


Behind Bars

by RedxMaude



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Prison
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-18 00:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 94,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9355934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedxMaude/pseuds/RedxMaude
Summary: Arrested, tried, and convicted, Yang Xiao Long sits behind bars for the assault of Mercury Black during the Vytal Tournament. She is sentenced to serve eight months in Briarcliff, a prison in the mountains to the east of Vale. There, she will have to learn how to navigate the rising tensions between the human and Faunus factions, and discover more about herself in the process - or suffer the consequences.Can a one-armed teenage girl survive in a prison with hardened criminals where danger and darkness lurk around every corner, just waiting for the chance to strike her down? If anyone can do it, it's Yang Xiao Long.Rated T for language and violence. Includes OCs and possible eventual pairings of canon characters.





	1. Welcome to the Birdcage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leaning up against the bars of her cell, Yang remembers the day they came to arrest her. Locked up in the Birdcage, she can't help but question each and every decision that has brought her to where she stands today.

Behind Bars

Part One: Welcome to the Birdcage

* * *

Looking through the bars, Yang Xiao Long remembered the day they had come for her.

It was several weeks after the fall of Beacon. Sitting in her bed at her house in Patch, she'd heard someone in the yard. The conversation trickled up through her window, muffled by the glass.

Then she'd heard the door. Her dad was shouting.

"This is insane! You can't just take her!"

Someone with a low gravelly voice said something, and then Taiyang swore.

"I don't give a damn who issued the warrant!"

Footsteps clomped up the stairs. The door to her room banged open and three men in gray uniforms barged in. Both her dad and Ruby were nowhere to be seen.

The man in front spoke, his voice clear and commanding.

"Yang Xiao Long, you are under arrest for the assault of Mercury Black by order of the Council of Vale."

_What?_

Yang stared at the wall, unseeing. Her body had gone entirely numb.

_This isn't happening…_

Downstairs, something crashed. The sounds of a fight drifted up through the floor.

One of the officers looked behind him, concerned. With a nod from the man who was clearly in charge he went to investigate.

The lead officer grunted, golden captain's bars flashing on his chest. He issued another wordless command, and the third man came forward, grabbing Yang roughly under her good arm.

When she didn't move, he yanked her out of the bed, spilling the sheets all over the floor. Holding thick metal handcuffs, he hesitated when he saw the stump hanging uselessly from her right shoulder.

"Dumbass, get out of the way," said the captain, pushing him aside. He took the hand cuffs and clipped one end to another pair that he withdrew from his belt. Taking the elongated chain, he cuffed one end around Yang's upper bicep on her left arm.

The metal bit into the soft flesh under her arm, tears of blood trickling down towards her elbow. The pain shocked Yang out of her stupor and she started to resist the hands gripping her.

Annoyed, the officer struck her in the back of the head with his elbow and used his weight to shove her up against the wall.

"NO!" she screamed, still fighting. But pinned between him and the wall, she had nowhere to go. If she'd been able to push off with both hands, then maybe, but as it was – she was stuck.

Leaning against her with his body and holding her shoulder in place, the captain used his free hand to squeeze the other end of the dual handcuffs around what remained of her right arm. Still sensitive from the damage Adam had done, every nerve in Yang's arm burned and she screamed, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

The chains of the handcuffs were shorter than her back was wide, and they wrenched her shoulders back awkwardly. It felt like she was folding in half along her spine.

Struggling to breath, Yang leaned towards her injured side, trying to find some relief. The captain stepped back, jerking her away from the wall. Yang's breath whooshed out in a hiss, vision blurring.

Pushing her at the other officer, the captain strode out of the room and returned to the first floor of the house. Taiyang was still yelling, but what – Yang couldn't focus enough to hear.

The officer stood behind her, placing one hand on her good arm and the other on her right shoulder. He forced her to move forward, walking her downstairs and through the living room to the front door.

Taiyang was with Ruby in the kitchen, but when he saw her being perp-walked out of the house he tried to fight his way past the officers standing in the doorway, attempting to corral him into the kitchen.

"You can't take her! You can't take my daughter!"

"One more step and you'll be coming with us in cuffs too! Step back!" roared the captain, standing with his arms behind his back.

"Dad!" yelled Yang, still crying from the pain. She tried to turn around to face him, but the officer held her tight.

Through it all, Ruby just stood there – looking dazed. Her hands drooped by her sides and her mouth hung open, silent.

After that, Yang had been forced out the front door and shoved into the back of a waiting police car. Looking out the rear window, she watched the house shrink into the distance.

She'd spent the night locked up in a cell at the back of the station. It wasn't until the next day that they'd started questioning her about the Vytal Tournament and what had happened with Mercury.

Over and over again they played the video from the tournament's live feed. For hours, all Yang did was watch herself attack a seemingly defenseless man. Even to her, it looked vicious. Every time she heard the crunch of his bones, she winced.

Mumbling weakly, she had explained what she'd seen. To her, it had looked and felt and sounded like he was attacking her – but the police just looked at her, shaking their heads and scoffing, disgusted.

Not a single one of them believed her, and there was nothing she could do to prove her story.

The match had ended, so when she had struck Mercury it was outside of the purview of the tournament. It was assault, plain and simple. If Beacon had still been whole, then maybe – just _maybe_ – the school could have acted on her behalf, claiming responsibility for her and asserting jurisdiction.

But with Ozpin nowhere to be found, it was hopeless.

By the end of the day, they had officially pressed charges. Taiyang had hastily scrounged up a lawyer, a connection through a friend of a friend of Qrow's.

Three months later, and her case was tried before the court of Vale. Under normal circumstances, the trial would've started much sooner. But the kingdom was in a state of panic. Crime was on the rise – and the courts were flooded.

In the interim, Yang stewed in a cell in a jail on the shadier side of town. Not far from the docks, she was held in an eight by eight gray box, facing a much larger cell. This was the "gen pop" holding cell. A flux of drunks, addicts, thieves, and god knows what else flowed in and out – going on to court dates, larger jails, and for a lucky few – release.

Once in a while, a low ranking member of the White Fang would get thrown into the mix, but usually they were taken to more heavily secured facilities.

The day the trial began was the first time she'd seen her father in weeks. Ruby was there, but Yang wished she wasn't. She didn't want her little sister watching this because inside her heart of hearts, she knew this was hopeless. There was no way she could win.

That's not to say her lawyer was going down without a fight.

Maxwell Cloud, esq., was a well-dressed, confident man with steel grey hair and bright blue eyes. He kept his hair cropped short on the sides with an elaborate mass of curls on the crown of his head. He favored gray and navy suits with sharp creases, always with a blood red handkerchief in his breast pocket.

Yang had to appreciate the energy with which Cloud attacked the case. He paraded a stream of character witnesses through the court – everyone from her sister to her professors at both Beacon and Signal; even Weiss testified. Blake, however, never once set foot into the courtroom. No one had heard from her in weeks.

Cloud had initially hesitated to put Yang on the stand, but with some finagling he'd been convinced. But only if she'd submit to a psych evaluation.

He put her on the stand first, and then the good doctor – bushy mustache and all – who attested to her sound state of mind and sincere grief over what had happened (never once using buzzwords like "assault" or "attack" or even "incident").

However, no one could prove that what Yang saw was the truth.

The prosecution had torn into her on cross-examination, shredding her story to pieces. The prosecutor bisected every moment, every one of her memories from that day. He asked about her emotional state during the match. He asked about her semblance and how it worked. He asked about the connection between rage and her ability to wield a mysterious aura that not even she fully understood.

It took everything in her not to scream in the attorney's face. By the end of it, she was left completely and utterly broken. Again.

Thanks to the embargo on non-military and non-essential flights between the kingdoms in addition to the damage done to the CCT, Mercury was not present in the court. Instead, the prosecution presented a signed affidavit, relating the contents of his testimony. Even without a sympathetic victim to put on the stand, the evidence severely damaged Yang's case.

And then the video.

If at any point in the trial Maxwell Cloud looked worried – it was when the prosecution queued up the tape for the jury.

The assembly of her peers looked on in horror. Yang couldn't watch. She heard the resounding crack of Ember Celica firing. Then a wet crunching sound, followed by Mercury's screams. The footage was damning, leaving little room to maneuver.

In all, the trial had lasted nearly two months.

On the afternoon the jury returned with a verdict, Yang had begged her father not to let Ruby into the court. He hadn't listened.

Paraded in before the gallery, Yang stood in front of the bench. Unshackled but dressed in a drab grey jumpsuit and white tennis shoes sans laces, she faced the judge.

Sitting atop the wooden podium was Judge Maud Bergan. She had a hooked nose like a Nevermore's beak and jet black hair. Stern brown eyes peered down at Yang over the rims of half-moon spectacles.

Judge Bergan had a reputation for being fair but strict. She had been a member of the bar for longer than Yang had been alive, and she fielded most of the juvenile cases in the city.

"Madame Forewoman," trilled Bergan, "Have you reached a verdict?"

Yang knew that her chances were abysmal, but she couldn't stop her heart from fluttering in her chest. Hating herself, she realized that she still held out hope – even though she knew that it would be crushed in a matter of seconds.

"We have, Your Honor," she said, not once looking at Yang. "In the case of the People of Vale vs. Yang Xiao Long, we find the defendant guilty of assault in the first degree with a deadly weapon."

Yang's stomach dropped and her whole body went cold as the breath she'd been holding whooshed out of her chest. If the bailiff hadn't been holding her by the arm she would've dropped to the floor on her ass.

The judge banged her gavel and adjourned the court, pending sentencing the following day. But Yang heard nothing – her ears were ringing and the world was spinning. She didn't even remember being led out of the court and back to the jailhouse.

For the rest of the night and the next morning, right up until she found herself back in front of the massive wooden bench, everything was a haze. She'd spent hours staring at the wall and seeing nothing, barely moving. Yang Xiao Long was an empty shell, incapable of thought or action.

The world slammed back into focus when the judge's voice snapped at her, trying to get her attention.

"Ms. Xiao Long! Seeing as how this whole spiel is about you, don't you think you ought to listen?" she demanded, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"As I was saying," she continued, pushing up her glasses and looking at the piece of paper she held in her hands, "Even though this is your first offense, I can't in good conscience place you in a minimum security facility. Due to your status as a huntress-in-training – as well as your considerable proficiency with your semblance and the violent nature of the offense – I have no choice but to sentence you to eight months in the Briarcliff Correctional Facility for Young Women. You'll be eligible for parole in six months, pending good behavior."

"Your Honor!" Cloud shouted, rising. "Briarcliff is a bit extreme for a first time offender! And she's a teenager who's never been in the system – do you really think sending her there is the right thing to do?"

The judge was sucking in a breath – clearly readying a retort – but Cloud pushed on.

"She only has one arm, Your Honor," he said, pointing at Yang. Listening intently now, Yang flinched. "You can't put her in a place like that! It would be unconscionable! Sentencing her to the Birdcage-"

"Counselor!" she reprimanded him, pushing herself up from the bench. "Don't think for a moment that I didn't give this decision every consideration!"

Straightening out her robe and sitting back down, she continued.

"I'm sorry, truly I am," she said, eyes softening above her gold-rimmed glasses. "But Miss Xiao Long knew the stakes when she signed on to become a huntress. She knows that she'll be held to a higher standard as a member of the fighting class here in Vale. Besides, Briarcliff was the only facility designed to contain huntsmen."

She paused. "If she wishes to maintain her future in her selected field, she'll have to comply with sentencing. If not, she can relinquish her status as a huntress and then maybe I will be able to reconsider my verdict and recommend that she be placed in a minimum security facility."

Catching Yang's eye, Bergan said pointedly, "Miss Xiao Long, the decision is yours. Choose wisely."

To this day, Yang still wasn't sure if she had, because here she was – standing with her face pressed to the bars of a cell in Briarcliff. A spiraling fortress built on the edge of one of the mountains that protected Vale's eastern flank, it was a mass of gray steel ribbed with bars that reached for the sky.

Her eyes boring holes into the floor just on the other side of the bars, Yang was jolted out of her memories by a voice that came from behind her.

"Ave rota," said Cadeja, rolling the 'r' heavily, "What you starin' at?"

Saying nothing, Yang pushed herself away from the bars and walked past her cellmate. Not making eye contact, she clambered up into her bunk.

Looking up at her from the bed below, Cadeja asked, "What's going on in that big blonde head of yours?"

Lying back with her hands behind her head, Yang drew up her knees and focused on the ceiling.

"Nothing," she replied.

"Pendeja! Don't lie to me. If your hair weren't so damn thick I'd probably see a million thoughts buzzin' around inside your brain."

Yang managed a weak smile.

"Look who's talking."

Cadeja huffed. Yang could practically hear her crossing her arms over her chest and rolling her eyes.

Cadeja Álvarez was a wolf Faunus with spiky white-gray hair that reached all the way down her back. Two shaggy ears stood up from her skull, tipped with black tufts of fur. She had a deep-olive tone to her skin and dark green eyes that didn't miss a thing. Yang had only been bunked with her for a few days, but Cadeja could already read her like a book.

As far as possible cellmates went, Yang counted herself lucky. Cadeja's moods could shift at a moment's notice – but for the most part she was kind. As a frequent visitor of facilities like Briarcliff, Cadeja was experienced and she'd taken Yang under her wing.

In a strange way, they were becoming friends.

The first night Yang had been there, when the lights shut off and the sudden darkness covered her eyes, she had felt the tears welling up. She fought them with everything she had – she definitely did _not_ want to look weak.

But Cadeja had heard her snuffling.

"Oye, life here isn't so bad. You'll get used to it," she'd said in her thick accent. "It'll all be over before you know it."

Yang had thanked her, wiping at the corners of her eyes.

"No problema. Welcome to the Birdcage," she'd said, using the nickname for the notorious Briarcliff.

Back in the present, Yang smiled, remembering.

"Fine, keep your secrets," Cadeja said, under her breath, "You sure are a strange one little ave rota."

After a moment, Yang asked, "Why do you call me that?"

The bed below her squeaked, and Cadeja's head popped up beside Yang's. Clinging to the bedframe while on her tip-toes, Cadeja smiled at Yang – flashing her fangs. The weak light in the cell caught the golden spike she'd had driven through the cartilage of her left ear.

"Ave rota?" she said, tilting her head to the side. Jutting out her chin, she indicated Yang's ruined right arm.

"Because you have a damaged wing," she said. "It means the broken bird."

* * *

 

Author’s note: Hello! So I've already posted this story on fanfiction but I've finally decided that I'm gonna start uploading stuff here on AO3 as well. I'm not sure how quickly I'll post chapters (this particular fic is already into its second volume) but for now I think I'll be doing a couple at a time. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Also just a side note, Welcome to the Birdcage is the title of both chapter one and volume one!


	2. Factions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still new to the Birdcage, Yang starts to figure out who's who as she gets to know more about her cellmate and the factions that rule the prison. However, she'll have to be careful because not every new face she meets will be a friendly one.

Behind Bars

Part Two: Factions

* * *

"Shift your asses, ladies! Everybody line up for count!"

Yang jolted awake. Bright white lights seared into her eyes. Squinting, she pushed herself upright with her good arm.

Something struck her bed from below.

"Hey new girl! Get up!" said Cadeja.

Yang heard the padding of Cadeja's feet across the cell. A loud buzz sounded and the doors to the cells clanked open.

Throwing her legs over the side of her bunk, Yang jumped down to the floor. Stumbling, she made her way to the doorway. Taking her place by her cellmate, she stood, waiting.

"Gooooooood morning cell block D!" came the deep, sing-song voice of one of the COs.

"Aw fuck," Cadeja cursed under her breath. "We got Kowalski today."

Still bleary-eyed, Yang ran her fingers through her bed-hair. A moment later, a tall guard in a pin-straight navy uniform started to make his way down the line. Rubbing her eyes, Yang observed him. She hadn't seen this CO before.

He had massively broad shoulders and was a little thick at the waist. Yang figured it was _mostly_ muscle, but not exclusively. His sleeves were rolled up past his elbows, exposing forearms covered in a mass dark hair.

His eyes were almost black, sunken deep into his face. His hair was just as dark, cropped neatly on the sides and longer on the top.

But his most distinctive features were two thick mutton-chop style sideburns that ran down to his chin and flared away from his jawline, culminating in two neatly groomed peaks.

Striding down the hallway, Kowalski stopped at each of the cells and checked off the girls one by one. Sometimes he would pause, raking his eyes over one of the inmates.

When he got to Cadeja, he smirked.

"And how are we this morning?" he said, leaning down towards her.

Yang saw the visible effort on Cadeja's face not to snarl.

"Just dandy, CO."

"That's what I like to hear." Turning his attention to Yang. "Lookie here. 'Bout time my little wolf bitch got herself a cellie."

Looking down at a list of names on his clipboard, he said, "Xiao Long…" Scrutinizing her, he grunted, eyes lingering just a little too long over her ruined arm. "You're a pretty little thing," he muttered, his smile revealing teeth. "And pretty little things don't always last too long in here."

He winked and moved on.

The moment he left, Yang's breath rushed out of her. To Cadeja, she whispered, "What a creepy dude."

"You have no idea," she growled. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from him. Ain't no ave rota gonna be able to deal with that one."

Yang grimaced.

"I can take care of myself."

Cadeja just looked at her, doubt plain on her face.

"Ladies of cellblock D!" boomed Kowalski's voice from the other end of the room. "You've got two minutes to get these bunks made up spick and span! I see one corner untucked and you're all losing shower privileges for the day! I don't give two shits how bad you smell."

Scurrying, they'd made up their beds while Kowalski patrolled up and down the rows of cells, running his hands along the bars. Satisfied, he nodded to two other COs. Leaving them to escort the inmates to D showers, he whistled and walked down the hall to the officers' booth.

As he passed Yang, he laughed to himself quietly. Yang glared at his back, hand balling up into a fist. She couldn't put a name to it, but _something_ in him had awoken an anger deep inside her.

Grabbing her by the shoulder, Cadeja steered her towards the showers. Queuing up behind the others with their towels and their shower caddies, they stood silently side by side.

For a moment, Yang watched her cellmate scrutinize the long nails on her left hand. Bored, Yang let her eyes wander. Darting from face to face, she looked warily at each girl in the line.

Cellblock D was different from the three other main housing areas in the Birdcage. This was where they held the huntresses and other fighters who could wield aura and therefore pose a unique threat that the rest of gen pop couldn't.

They were different, they were dangerous, and so they were separate.

It also housed an unusually large population of Faunus. Blocks A through C had about a three to ten ratio of Faunus to humans, but here in block D, there were two Faunus for every three humans. For that reason, it was often referred to as the Wilds.

Just from where Yang was standing, she could see a cluster of women with antlers, dog ears, tails, and an assortment of other animal attributes. One particularly large woman even had short white tusks curving up from under her top lip.

Absorbed, Yang rolled the handle of her shower caddy in her hand, nearly dropping it when Cadeja suddenly cuffed her over the head from behind.

"Don't stare," she muttered. "It's not a good way to make friends, me entiendes?" She smiled. "Take my advice, Xiao Long. You keep your head down in here if you wanna avoid trouble."

Cowed, Yang nodded.

Showers were mandated to five minutes max, and if you weren't one of the first twenty or so girls in line, hot water was just a distant dream. In the few days Yang had been here, she'd never once had a shower that wasn't so cold it sent her teeth jittering in her skull.

If you went over your time, a red light went off above the stall and a guard would come drag you out by your hair. Yang had seen it happen a few times – girls clutching towels in their hands, naked and completely exposed, thrown to the mold-encrusted floor… not pleasant.

Eventually she got to the front of the line. Stepping into the stall nearest the door, she hung her towel on a hook. She stripped down and laid her clothes over the side of the shower wall. There were no curtains.

Wearing nothing but shower shoes, she braced herself and stepped under the icy flow of water. She hissed when it touched her bare skin, involuntarily shying away from the stream. Moving quickly, she washed her hair and scrubbed at her skin, racing to get out.

Bending down, she shaved her legs with a plastic pink safety razor that had one supremely dulled blade. Moving from her left to her right leg, Yang paused, the razor hovering above her skin.

On her right ankle, a metal band about an inch thick and two inches wide was clamped down around her leg. A green light flickered, flashing on and off. The skin under the brace was red and irritated.

This was one of the reasons she'd been sent to Briarcliff. These ankle monitors had been specially designed for prisoners who had unlocked their aura and learned to wield their semblance. They were a unique feature of the Birdcage. No other prison in Vale could afford to buy the tech from Atlas.

Once attached, the monitor could only be removed by an electronic key card with a coded chip. The device was designed to monitor the inmate's aura levels. If the levels spiked, indicating the buildup of energy required for using a semblance, the light would turn orange and the speakers in the brace would start to beep. And if the energy got strong enough, the monitor's light would turn red.

You did not want it to turn red.

The ankle monitor had one particularly nasty function. If the levels of aura caused the light to turn red for more than a few seconds, it would run a short but high voltage current of electricity into the wearer's body to disturb the aura and cause pain to the inmate – effectively knocking her out and returning the levels to normal.

Yang shuddered, remembering the CO's dull voice explaining all this to her, handing her a release form to sign as he'd strapped it around her ankle.

Shaking her head, she placed the razor carefully against the dry, itching skin above the brace and started sloughing off the light blonde hair on her leg.

Examining her handiwork, Yang sighed.

_That's as good as it's gonna get._

Hurriedly rinsing off, Yang stemmed the flow of water from the showerhead. Wrapping herself in her towel and bunching up her discarded clothes in her fist, she stepped out of the stall and made way for the next girl in line.

Finding some miraculously dry counter space by one of the sinks, Yang dropped her stuff and dried herself off. Even though she'd had a few months to get used to it, she still struggled to complete everyday tasks with just one hand.

Getting dressed could be a particularly frustrating endeavor. There were a few things she hadn't mastered yet. For example, buttons were hard – but in here, she didn't have to worry about that anymore. For Yang, the worst of it was putting on her bra.

The only way she could do it was by hooking the clasps before she put it on. Then she'd slip it over her head like a t-shirt, sliding her arms through the straps. She did this one side at a time. Occasionally, the strap would get caught on the stump of her right arm, and she'd spend several infuriating seconds wrestling with it.

Of course, shivering and fresh out of the shower – today was one of those occasions. Yang had managed to slip into her underwear and secure her pants around her hips. But when she'd pulled the bra on over her head it had gotten caught – not only around her arm but in her hair too.

A trio of girls standing off to her right giggled and pointed, making no effort to conceal the fact that they were talking about her. Yang's cheeks flushed, and she struggled harder but couldn't manage to untangle herself.

Her nipples were puckered up from the cold and her breasts bounced heavily as she tried to shift the clasp out of her hair. Embarrassment and anger mingled in her blood, and Yang could feel tears welling behind her eyes.

She felt like screaming, but she did her best to ignore the girls who were, by now, outright laughing at her. Even the CO standing guard at the door looked at her with pity.

"You see something you like?"

Cadeja stepped in front of Yang, facing the three girls at the sinks next to her. Stark naked, she stood with one hand resting on her cocked hip. Flashing her fangs, she smiled seductively at the women. The one who was apparently the ringleader rolled her eyes and led the other two out of the bathroom, back in the direction of the cells.

"Chingadas," spat Cadeja. Turning around, she looked at Yang.

"Ay Dios, da fuck am I gonna do with you?" The words tumbled out of her mouth in her rapid fire accent.

She pulled Yang's hand away from the tangled clasp and released it from her hair. Straightening it out, she slid the strap caught on Yang's right arm up to its proper place on her shoulder.

She flashed Yang a smile and walked back to where she'd left her clothes and her towel.

"Thank you," said Yang, roughly pulling her shirt down over her head.

"De nada, menina. Just be more careful next time. I won't always be here to fix everythin', you feel me?"

Still a little angry, Yang said sharply, "I usually have it under control. Don't feel like you always have to save me."

"Oh trust me, Xiao Long, I won't." The yellow light from the overhead fluorescents glinted in her dark green eyes. Her upper lip lifted, revealing her elongated canines.

Still naked from the waist up, Cadeja gathered up her things and strode out of the bathroom, hips swaying.

When Yang had finished up, she carried her stuff back to her cell. Cadeja was nowhere to be seen. A steady flow of girls headed down the halls in the opposite direction of the showers on each of the five levels that made up D block. Yang jumped into the crowd and let their momentum carry her to the mess hall.

The cafeteria was a long, high-ceilinged room with row after row of steel tables and benches nailed to the floor. At any given time, it could hold the entire prison's population. Situated near the center of the compound, it was one of the emergency fall back shelters in case of a breach or a grimm attack.

Along the far wall between the tables and the kitchen was the serving area. There, Yang shuffled her way through the line, watching scowl-mouthed, hair-netted women slop lukewarm scrambled eggs and suspiciously yellow home fries onto her tray. Grabbing some dry toast and hastily snatching a red jello, Yang slid down to the end. Picking up a plastic cup of water, she turned and started weaving through the tables.

Along the east wall she saw Cadeja sitting alone, already eating. Striding over, Yang plopped down across from her without a word.

"Did I say you could sit with me today?" she asked around a mouthful of oatmeal.

"Nope," said Yang, letting the 'p' pop.

Cadeja smiled, returning her focus to the tray in front of her.

Not particularly hungry, Yang pushed her food around her plate for a moment before picking up the jello and peeling off the cover with her teeth. Sticking a spoon into the red gelatin, she sat with one foot on the bench, knee folded to her chest.

Every time Yang scooped some of the jello out of the little plastic container, it slid on the table.

"Watching you eat ain't pretty you know?" said Cadeja.

"So don't look," replied Yang, sticking out her tongue.

Eyes casting about the room, Yang watched the lunch queue eventually trickle down to nothing, only a few stragglers still streaming into the mess hall. As she had on other days, Yang noticed that the room was largely divided into two sections.

Closest to the door sat the majority of the Faunus, while most of the humans sat back towards the kitchens. In here, most people kept to their own kind – always wary of outsiders. There were exceptions – like her and her and her cellmate – who ignored the unspoken rule of "keep to your own." As far as Yang could tell, Cadeja tried to keep her hands clean of the prison's politics.

In the center of the Faunus, Yang could see a tall, sandy-haired woman who stood head and shoulders over most of the others around her. A long, muscular tail curled playfully around her side, the tip flicking every few seconds.

That was Leonie Verté, head of the Faunus faction here in the Birdcage. So far, Yang had only seen the woman from a distance. There was just something about her – almost… hypnotic. She had pale green eyes and broad shoulders that matched her tall stature. From head to toe, she was all lean, long muscles.

Yang had also noticed that Leonie always had another cat-tailed Faunus by her side. She was a shorter version of Leonie – alike in all aspects except for a slight reddish tinge to her hair. The only remarkable difference between the two was that the shorter Faunus's tail had been cut to a stump, only about six inches long. She was Judith Verté – Leonie's sister and her lieutenant, for all intents and purposes.

Yang still couldn't put many names to faces in here, but those were two she'd figured out quickly and for good reason. As far as the Faunus were concerned, they ran the Wilds.

"De verdad?" said Cadeja, swatting at Yang's head. "What did I tell you about staring?"

"I can't help it! Girl's gotta look at something. Besides, I'm still figuring out who's who in here."

"You won't need to know who's who if you stick to your own business, Xiao Long. Keep your head down, _cabizbaja_. You understand?" she said.

"Yeah I get it."

"Do you? Sometimes I think you're the type to go looking for trouble."

Yang couldn't help but smile a bit at that.

"Who this girl?" she said, indicating herself with her thumb. "Nah, I'm just your average, low-key no nonsense nobody."

Cadeja rolled her eyes.

Pausing, Yang considered whether or not to ask Cadeja a question that had been nagging at her for days now. It had popped into her head while looking at the other Faunus. Thinking it was probably a bad idea but deciding to do it anyways, she said, "Hey Cadeja?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought that Faunus usually only have one animal attribute. But," she said, indicating her ears and her teeth, "you have two. Why is that?"

Cadeja's mouth flattened into a straight line.

"You'd best be careful when you ask a Faunus a question like that, Xiao Long, especially in a place like this," she answered sternly.

Getting ready to apologize, Yang opened her mouth to speak but Cadeja waved her off. "Lucky for you, human, I happen to be so damn nice," she said, smiling. "Like all of us, I only have one trait." She wiggled her ears on top of her head.

Baring her elongated teeth and pointing, she continued. "These here are implants. Goes with the look, don't you think?" She laughed at her own joke. "Besides," she said, leaning in, "nobody fucks with fangs." She winked and chuckled at the stunned look on Yang's face.

Remembering the incident in the showers that morning Yang had to agree, nobody fucks with fangs.

"I'll have to remember that," she said.

Yang saw Cadeja's eyes snap to attention, looking at something over her shoulder. Before she could turn to see what it was, someone's breath – hot and moist – rolled over her face.

Standing behind her, a girl with a sharp jawline and pale, white skin leaned in, bringing her face to rest just above Yang's right shoulder. Long black hair tied back in a severe ponytail tickled Yang's ear.

"Why hello there," she said with a smooth, sultry voice. Her left hand clamped down on the side of Yang's neck.

Stroking her throat, the woman said, "I don't believe we've met. The name is Sasha Orlov."

Unable to turn and get a better look, Yang stared straight ahead. Cadeja's hair bristled, but she remained silent, watching.

"Um, hi. Nice to meet you but my friend and I were actually-"

"It's Yang right? Xiao Long?" continued Sasha, cutting Yang off.

"Yeahhhh but if you don't mind letting go of me, I think I'm done with breakfast," said Yang, starting to rise.

Sasha pushed down with the hand on Yang's neck and her other hand reached out, toying with the end of Yang's right arm. She winced. Except for a few numb spots, the end of her arm was still incredibly sensitive to touch.

"Hold on just a moment," purred Sasha. "I've got a message for you." Bringing her lips closer to Yang's ear, she whispered, "If ever you find yourself in need of a friend, sister, come find me. It's all been arranged."

With that Sasha straightened up, winked at Cadeja and left. Over her shoulder she said one final thing.

"We'll talk again soon."

And then she was gone.

"Who the hell was that?" asked Yang.

" _That_ was trouble. Remember what I said about you looking for it? I stand corrected. You don't look for _it_ ," she said, "it finds you."

"Gee thanks, that's super helpful."

"It's not a joke, little ave rota. That woman is dangerous. She's right at the center of all the dirty politics that go on inside this place. She controls more women than even the Verté sisters. She's the head of the human faction in here."

"So what did she want with me?" Yang asked, remembering Sasha's voice slithering in her ear.

 _And what's with the 'sister' business?_ she thought.

"No idea, but whatever it is, it's not good. Ella es _la_ _Mala_. She's bad news. I don't know what you did to get her attention, but if I was you – I'd do whatever I can to lose it. Fast."


	3. I Am Yang Xiao Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang's inner turmoil comes to a head when a new villain in her life decides to make her first move. Homesick and alone, Yang struggles to defend herself and maintain her sanity in the Birdcage. Can she overcome the forces that seek to destroy her, both from within and without?

Behind Bars

Part Three: I Am Yang Xiao Long

* * *

The letter crumpled in Yang's hand, creases forming around her clenched fist.

She sat in her bunk, slumped against the wall. The concrete was cold against her back through the thin material of her undershirt. There was dried blood on her lower lip. Her arm was draped over her bent knees, hand drooping with the pieces of paper clutched in her fingers.

The letter was from her father. She'd read and re-read it a thousand times.

_Yang,_

_Sorry I haven't been in to see you. I guess your list of approved visitors hasn't gone through yet. Smells like bull shit to me._

_Ruby's doing okay, mostly. But with Weiss back at her home in Atlas now, she has fewer distractions._

_She's waiting for you to call. She needs to hear her big sister's voice to know you're okay._

_I know it's tough, and the last time we talked you said you weren't ready yet – but can you call her? For me? A few words from you will do her more good than anything I can say._

_I'm sure Zwei would love to hear your voice too! Dopey mutt misses ya._

_In other news, something came for you today – shipped here Atlas-express. Been talking to Ironwood about it for weeks now! Well actually – James is the one who brought it up initially. Full of surprises that one._

_But that's not the point –_

_Yang, he built you an arm – top of the line, neural interfaces, Atlesian steel, all new cybernetic specs – this thing is amazing!_

_Now, I know you don't need it to be the complete package – you'll always be my little girl, no matter what. And I know it doesn't mean much now, but it'll be waiting here for you when you come home._

_Because you are coming home, Yang. It may not feel like it now – but you're coming home to us. Me, Ruby, Zwei, your friends, we're all still a part of your life whether you see it now or not._

_And just think of General Ironwood's gift this way:_

_There's a lot of people here who still believe in you, Yang. It might seem like the darkest hour, but there are people who love and care for you, and know you for_ you _._

_I'll see you soon, my sunny little dragon._

_Love Always,_

_Dad_

She stared ahead resolutely, tears drying on her cheeks. Still holding the letter, Yang prodded her side with her fingers. She winced as they probed a bruise spreading over her ribs. Pulling up her shirt, she looked down at the rapidly darkening blotches on her skin.

Panting slightly, she laid her head back against the wall. Gritting her teeth, she glared up at the ceiling and remembered – the events of the day slamming back to the forefront of her mind.

* * *

Yang was cleaning the floor in the hallway outside the D block showers. Gripping the mop in her left hand, she supported the top of the handle between what was left of her right arm and her side. Making slow, clumsy circles she worked her way across the hall.

Throughout her first week at Briarcliff, Yang had been bounced from one work assignment to the next. Already she'd been through three: maintenance, kitchens, and now the cleaning crew.

For the most part, she could find ways to manage the tasks assigned to her, but she slowed down the team. After about a day or so, the CO in charge of whatever crew she was with requested that she be transferred to an "easier" or "more suitable" job.

Sweat beading on her forehead in the stifling heat, Yang's frustration drove her to scrub faster. Already, the rest of the girls in cleanup had finished their tasks and gone back to their bunks for social hour, the part of the morning where the cells were left open and D block was allowed to "socialize" within its own little clicks.

Moving too fast, the top of the mop's handle slipped out of the crook of her right arm.

"Need a hand?"

Yang stiffened slightly as Sasha's low laugh floated down the hallway ahead of her. For once in her life, Yang Xiao Long didn't think a pun was funny.

Trying to ignore Sasha, she trained her eyes on the mop and went back to working her way down the hall.

Yang heard footsteps slapping down on the wet floor and tensed. Grabbing her shoulder, Sasha spun Yang around to face her. Briefly, Yang noticed that there was another girl standing behind Sasha. She was unusually short with blonde hair so pale it was almost white.

Shoving her face into Yang's, Sasha said prettily, "Rule number one in here? When I speak to you, you answer." She flashed a smile and moved back a few feet, the other girl standing just behind her.

"Now I'm being rude," she continued. "Yang, meet Roxie Hearst. Roxie? Meet Yang," she said with a wink. "She's the one I've been telling you about," she murmured, eyes looking Yang up and down.

When Yang didn't say anything right away, Sasha flashed her a dangerous look. Deciding that it was best to go along with whatever this was, Yang said, "Hey, nice to meet you," forcing a little cheeriness into her voice.

Satisfied, Sasha sauntered back towards Yang. Holding her ground, Yang stood with the mop clenched tightly in her hand. She returned Sasha's stare, scrutinizing the girl in front of her.

She was tall – maybe even taller than Yang – and she had raven black hair that was perpetually slicked back into a tight ponytail. The sides of her head were shaven, and the hair pulled back into the left side of her ponytail was woven into a tight braid.

Her ears had three holes in each lobe – indicating where she had once worn several piercings. Her eyes were a light brown color with flecks of gold around the pupils. They burned surprisingly bright, standing out from the stark contrast with her hair. The slightest hint of a tattoo peaked up over the collar of her shirt, but what exactly it was, Yang couldn't tell.

"So Yang, you given any thought to what I said the last time we spoke?"

 _Yeah_ , Yang thought, eyebrows knitting together. _That I need to stay about a million miles away from_ you _._

While Yang was deliberating over what to say, Sasha took another step closer.

Warily, she responded, "I don't know what you meant 'it's been arranged' but whatever it is I think I'm just fine without it. Thanks for the offer though."

In a flash, Sasha was in Yang's face. Before Yang could react, Sasha's hand snaked up and grabbed a fistful of her blonde hair, yanking her head back. A hiss escaped Yang's lips and she struggled to return Sasha's glare.

"Not a wise decision, Xiao Long," she snarled, pushing Yang forward until her back was pressed against the wall.

Fighting the urge to retaliate, Yang's grip tightened around the mop's handle until her entire arm started shaking. Wood splinters bit into her palm and she tried to focus on her breathing. She definitely did not want to get caught starting a fight.

Looking down at her clenched fist, Sasha smirked.

 _Stay cool_ , she thought to herself. _Do_ not _throw the first punch. The rules are different in here. DO NOT START SOMETHING._

Getting even closer, Sasha pressed her body to Yang's. Looming over her, she forced Yang to meet her eye.

Smile widening to expose two rows of flashing white teeth, Sasha tightened her grip on Yang's hair and snapped her head back against the wall with a vicious yank.

Involuntarily, Yang's eyes flashed red. Distantly, she heard the monitor on her ankle start to beep.

"That's a neat trick," Sasha hissed, still smiling.

Her other hand still clawing at Yang's hair, Sasha arched her back and raised her fist.

"You know, _she_ really wouldn't like it if she knew I was doing this," said Sasha through her teeth.

Yang didn't have time to wonder who "she" was. Watching Sasha's raised fist, she saw the punch coming. At the last moment, she jerked and ducked out of the way. Sasha's fist connected with the wall with a resounding thud, splinters of paint chipping off.

Trying to create some space between them, Yang used her momentum to wrench herself out of Sasha's grasp. Strands of blonde hair came in away in her hand, and the red tinge of Yang's vision intensified.

The beeping from her ankle monitor grew louder, the light an angry orange.

"Better watch that, Xiao Long," growled Sasha. "Wouldn't want it to go red, not yet any ways. There's no fun in this for me if you're unconscious."

Sasha struck out with a kick aimed for Yang's head. Dodging back, Yang ended up with her back against the wall again. Struggling to breathe, she tried to release the flow of energy and stem the buildup of her semblance.

Taking advantage, Sasha lashed out again. Yang dodged a fist aimed at her face but exhaled sharply as Sasha's knee crashed into her ribs. Doubled over, Yang heard the beeping turn into a constant shrill. Catching a quick glance, she saw the light flash red for a split second before fading back to orange.

Yang rolled out of the way of another attack. Regaining her balance, she kicked Sasha across the back of her knees.

Sasha stumbled forward and whirled around to face her. Eyes gleaming, she pressed the attack.

The two exchanged a flurry of blows, the shriek of Yang's monitor now intermixed with a low beeping from Sasha's.

Yang threw her weight behind a left hook that connected with Sasha's jaw. Sasha quickly retaliated and sent another vicious kick into Yang's abdomen.

Clutching her stomach with her left hand, Yang fought to straighten up. Through the haze of her vision she saw Sasha's fist rifling through the air.

Instinct took over, and she threw up her right arm to defend herself – momentarily forgetting that there was nothing there.

Sasha's fist connected with Yang's face, cracking the bones in her cheek and making her teeth rattle in her head. Yang flew back into the wall, by some miracle still standing.

The beeping in her monitor started to fade as black spots danced in front of her eyes. But even as the light faded back to a dull green in her brace, a high-pitched squawking sound was ripping its way out of the speakers in the device around Sasha's ankle.

Too fast for Yang to see, Sasha was back in her face – one hand around her throat, the other held ready to strike.

Yang saw Sasha's hand rear back and flinched, expecting the blow.

But just as her fist arced forward, a small white hand appeared around Sasha's wrist, restraining her.

"Sasha!" barked the little girl with a surprisingly harsh voice.

Immediately Sasha's body relaxed and she released her grip on Yang's neck. Sputtering, Yang slumped to the floor and struggled for breath. She listened as the beeping in Sasha's monitor quickly faded back into silence.

"Not now! This isn't the time," said Roxie.

Sasha grunted, nodding. She smoothed down the front of her shirt and wiped at the corner of her mouth with her wrist. Bending over Yang, she spat in her ear.

"Next time, dear sister."

 _Sister?_ thought Yang weakly. _What is she talking about?_

For several minutes Yang lay on the floor feeling broken and empty. Eventually, her fear of being found like this forced her to pick herself up, leaning heavily against the wall.

After that, she had slowly stumbled her way back to her cell, leaving the mop on the floor outside the showers.

Cadeja had looked up at her as she half-lunged, half-fell into their cell.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"I don't wanna fucking talk about it ok?" Yang spat, still clutching her ribs.

Surprise flickered in Cadeja's eyes.

Yang was leaning against their bunks, breathing heavily. After a moment, she tried to pull herself up into her bed but couldn't. Tears of frustration welled in her eyes.

"Help me up," she growled.

Wordlessly, Cadeja helped Yang boost herself into the top bunk. A small cry escaped her lips when she bent at the waist – ribs groaning from the stress.

For a moment, Yang just laid there. Her legs were still hanging off the side of the bed.

"Whatever it is, you don't have to talk to me about it. But little ave rota-"

"I AM NOT BROKEN," screamed Yang, silencing Cadeja.

After a brief pause, Cadeja scoffed, tossing her hair.

"I'm gonna give you a pass on this one, Xiao Long," she said, settling back into her bunk and out of sight.

Yang barely heard as she rolled onto her side, left arm hugging her ribs. Blood dripped down from her split lip, hot against her skin.

Exhausted, Yang started to slip in and out of consciousness. Silent tears slid down her cheeks.

Sometime later – she didn't know how long – the voice of a CO startled her awake.

"Álvarez! Xiao Long! Queue up, you've got rec hour in the Yard in five minutes."

Yang half-registered Cadeja's voice as she explained to the CO that Yang wasn't feeling well.

"…probably just a stomach bug, she'll be alright…"

Luckily, it was CO Lowell. Out of all the guards, she was one of a handful who actually gave a damn about the inmates. Soft-spoken and rather un-intimidating, Yang had often wondered what had landed a person like her in a job like this.

Casting an eye up to Yang's bunk, Lowell hesitated. Then she nodded. "Okay, she can stay. Get moving Álvarez."

They left, and Yang was alone. Her vision blurred around the tears, small sobs causing her cracked ribs to shudder.

_This is me now. This is my life._

Burying her face in her pillow, Yang slept fitfully – dipping in and out of fragmented dreams. Scenes from the Vytal Tournament kept flashing through her mind.

_Her – fighting Mercury. The whole world watching. The stadium was alive with noise. She was spinning through the air, exchanging blows. She was flying – high on the fight._

_She was getting hit – heat rising from her semblance. His guard dropped, she got inside his range. The buzz of speakers – and the match was over._

_Then, the crack of Ember Celica firing._

Waking slightly, Yang clutched the side of her head with her hand, squeezing her eyes shut.

_Mercury's screams._

_She'd seen him attack! He was coming at her! She needed to defend herself-_

_She wouldn't just strike a disarmed man._

_She wouldn't._

_Did she?_

Yang winced, breath hitching in her lungs.

 _Did I?_ thought Yang. _Was what I saw all just… in my head?_

_I – am I… insane?_

_I wouldn't have let my anger take control. I wouldn't!_

_But…_

Her thoughts trailed off, remembering the video of the fight.

_But…_

_I AM NOT A MONSTER!_

She screamed inside her head. She tossed and turned, getting tangled up in the sheets and smearing blood everywhere.

She was breathing heavily, pain burning in her side. More memories battered her mind.

_Blake!_

_Blaaaake! Where are you?_

The echo of Yang's voice rang inside her head.

_Blaaaaaaaaaaake!_

_Heat firing in her veins when she saw Adam, standing over Blake._

_She roared, lunging –_

_Then pain, hot pain. Her arm was on fire – her whole body burned in the flames._

_Then later – waking up from the darkness, deformed._

She gritted her teeth.

_I am not a monster. That night did not break me._

A sheen of sweat slicked her brow. Her hair was damp and tangled.

_I am not a monster. That night did not break me._

Repeating the words to herself under her breath, she forced herself to sit up. Her hand brushed against Taiyang's letter, hidden under her pillow.

Her breathing slowed, returning to normal. She propped herself up, leaning against the wall.

She remembered her father's words. Listening as his voice came to her through the letter, she heard him say:

"There's a lot of people here who still believe in you, Yang. It might seem like the darkest hour, but there are people who love and care for you, and know you for _you_."

The echo of her father's words faded, and she gripped the sheets of paper in her hand. She took a deep breath, eyes boring holes into the wall across from her.

_I am not a monster. That night did not break me._

_I am Yang Xiao Long._

* * *

Author's note: I think that's all I'm gonna post of this fic for today - the first three chapters kind of serve as a nice introduction to the story, although it has ended up evolving into so much more than I could have ever thought it would be. If you want more, it'll be up on fanfiction but if this all goes well I'll be posting more of the chapters here soon! Again, please feel free to reach out and let me know what you think!


	4. The Walls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still recovering from Sasha's attack, Yang continues to meet new faces and tries to learn how to navigate life in the Birdcage.

Behind Bars

Part Four: The Walls

* * *

Head pounding, Yang slowly dragged herself upright. Her ribs were stiff and she felt a sharp stab of pain in her side whenever she tried to breathe too deeply.

She could taste blood in her mouth, and the right side of her face had swollen overnight. The skin over her cheek and jaw was taught and shiny, stretched over a red-rimmed bruise.

Gingerly, she pulled her shirt off over her head and looked down. Her ribs and stomach were a patchwork of reds, blues, and purples. Under the gentle touch of her hand, Yang's skin was feverishly warm.

Lying back down, Yang closed her eyes and tried to lie as flat as she could. Wincing, she focused on taking slow, even breaths.

Cautiously, she tapped into the flow of her aura. Wary of the monitor around her ankle, she let the energy build. After a moment, she started to feel the comforting warmth of her aura settle into her muscles and joints.

She focused the energy towards her ribs first. Bit by bit, the bruises receded, becoming smaller and lighter. Feeling less fragile, she attempted to take a deep breath and was relieved when she felt only a small discomfort.

Reducing the flow of energy before it could set off the monitor, she paused for a moment before redirecting her efforts towards the wounds on her face. Working her jaw, she felt the bones of her face returning to normal. Gradually, the swelling in her cheek and lips decreased.

Releasing the energy, Yang opened her eyes and sat up. She had done what she could to relieve the worst of her injuries, but she couldn't completely erase the damage from Sasha's attack for fear she would set off the alarm in the device on her leg.

The right side of her face and ribs were still mottled with dark bruises, albeit smaller and less severe. Over the next few days, she would have to repeat the process before she'd be fully healed.

Hearing the buzz of the cell doors unlocking, Yang slipped back into her shirt and clambered down from her bunk to line up for count. Cadeja was already awake, setting aside a book she'd been reading.

Looking at Yang's face she studied the bruises. She nodded, saying nothing and went to wait for the COs to start count.

Yang flushed, remembering how she'd snapped at Cadeja. Going to stand beside her, she let her hair drape over her shoulder and block her eyes from sight.

A guard strolled down the two opposing rows on their level of D block. Yang recognized CO Lowell again, shuffling from cell to cell. She was a short woman with light red hair and a small smile almost perpetually affixed to her face. She had kind, dark blue eyes.

Passing Yang, a look of concerned spread over her face, but she didn't say a word as she moved on to the next cell.

After she was finished, she gave the all clear and the girls lined up to head for the cafeteria. Today they had evening rather than morning showers, and for once Yang would be looking forward to the icy water, hoping it'd bring some relief to her still sore muscles.

But she'd have to wait. Walking behind Cadeja, she filed into the mess hall and collected a tray-full of gray mush that passed for oatmeal. Sitting at their customary table, Yang looked up at her cellmate from under her brow.

Breaking the silence, she said, "We okay?"

Cadeja stopped nibbling on a piece of toast and met her gaze. Her eyebrows furrowed together for a moment, and then she gave Yang a small smile.

"Está bién. We're good," she said. "Just remember who your friends are next time you go biting people's heads off, okay little ave rota?"

Yang grinned and nodded.

"I'm sorry about what I said. I don't mind the nickname, really," she said, swirling her spoon in her oatmeal. "And I'd really like it if you taught me a few words of your language. The way you speak is beautiful."

Yang jumped as Cadeja started cackling, clutching her sides with laughter.

"I don't get it what's so funny?" asked Yang, smiling.

After a moment, Cadeja caught her breath. Still giggling, she said, "Woo, ha. If only you knew, Xiao Long." She grinned. "I have a very dirty mouth," she continued, winking conspiratorially.

Yang chuckled, shaking her head.

"My mother would not be proud," she said, looking pensive. "Used to box my ears for swearin'. She's a tough woman."

Feeling nosy, Yang wrestled with a thousand questions that popped into her mind. Finally, she settled on one.

"Where are you from?" asked Yang. "I've never heard anyone with your accent before."

Cadeja smiled.

"My people are nomads. It was said that we once roamed the great deserts of Vacuo, but at some point in history beyond our memory, we migrated north. We've never settled in cities or towns, preferring to keep to ourselves and our own ways. Currently, our family lives far to the north in Mantle where most wouldn't dare venture."

Yang listened intently, more curious than ever about how the Faunus had ended up in Briarcliff.

Cadeja paused, grinning at some pleasant memory. "And sure, I will teach you some of our language, ave rota," she murmured.

After a moment, Cadeja's face grew serious again.

"Now, you gonna tell me what happened yesterday?" she asked, green eyes unwavering.

Yang grimaced. Looking down, she set aside her spoon and tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Sasha jumped me when I was cleaning the floors down by the bathroom. The rest of the crew was long gone so it was just me, her, and this other girl Roxie."

Cadeja shook her head. "I figured as much. What started it?"

"I turned down her offer of 'friendship,'" said Yang, punctuating her speech with air quotes. "I just… I have no idea why she's fixated on me."

Remembering Sasha's words, she continued. "And some of the things she was saying made absolutely no sense to me. She called me 'sister' again, and said that 'she' wouldn't be happy with Sasha for attacking me, whoever ' _she_ ' is."

Cadeja's shaggy white ears twitched as she shook her head.

"La Mala always has her secrets. Besides her little shadow – that icy blonde one, Roxie – there's not many in her inner circle, but she's definitely at the heart of something that stretches beyond these walls."

"Any clue what that is?" asked Yang.

"No. Even if I wasn't a Faunus, I wouldn't be going anywhere near enough to _that_ one to find out. She has a way of making girls' lives miserable, especially here in the Wilds," said Cadeja, making a curious gesture with her hand over her heart – as if to ward off bad luck.

Yang frowned, staring at the table.

"I have a feeling that one way or another, I need to find out more about Sasha or else I'll never know how to deal with her." Biting her lip, she said, "But what I really need right now is to re-learn how to defend myself."

Cadeja glanced at Yang's hand as it rubbed the bicep of her right arm.

"I figured that happened not too long before you landed in here," she said, indicating Yang's arm with her chin. "You were a huntress right? Was it a grimm?"

"Huntress in training," Yang corrected. "And no, it wasn't."

Cadeja scrutinized her face. Meeting her eye, Yang said, "I was at the Fall of Beacon."

Cadeja nodded.

"I know – you talk about it in your sleep sometimes."

Yang flushed, the tips of her ears glowing red. Before she could respond, a broad hand with dirty finger nails fell heavily on her shoulder. Hot breath and the smell of onions rolled over her neck, wafting around her face.

"Inmate," said a guard with a rough voice, "you've been assigned a counselor. She's scheduled an appointment starting in five minutes. Let's get going."

Grabbing her tray, Yang caught Cadeja's eye before turning to leave. The Faunus looked deep in thought, her brow slightly wrinkled.

Sliding his arm to her elbow, the CO guided Yang out of the mess hall. Passing by the trash bins, she deposited her tray and was led down a hallway she'd never entered before.

Sneaking a glance up at the guard, she caught a glimpse of his nametag. It read, "CO Reilly."

Reilly had curly brown hair and a well-groomed mustache that curled over his top lip. A pair of horn-rimmed glasses sat high on his broad nose. His cheeks darkened under a five o'clock shadow.

As he led her through a series of locked gates, pausing at each as they were buzzed through, he never once looked down at Yang or removed his hand from her elbow. His palm was sweaty and warm, making her squirm beneath his touch.

After the third gate, he led her down another hallway lined with closed wooden doors. Stopping before one of the last ones on the left, he turned the knob and pushed the door open. Walking Yang into the room ahead of him, he maneuvered her over to one of two chairs that sat facing a large desk, behind which was perched a young woman in her twenties – presumably the counselor.

Finally removing his hand from her elbow, Reilly threw her down into the chair and patted her head like a dog.

To the woman behind the desk, he said, "All yours."

"Thank you, CO," she said, her eyes never leaving Yang.

He grunted and walked out of the room, closing the door shut behind him. Yang wiped her elbow against her shirt, still moist where he had touched her.

When she stopped fidgeting, she examined the woman in front of her. She had thin, mousey brown hair that peaked just past her chin, longer in the front than in the back. Even seated, Yang could tell she was a fairly small woman, with narrow shoulders and a slight frame. Her eyes – a soft, pale blue – stared intently into Yang's.

Self-conscious, Yang let some of her hair fall forward over the bruises on her face.

"So," she said, breaking the silence, "You're Yang Xiao Long. Pleased to meet you – my name is Adrienne Luna."

Yang nodded, saying nothing.

Shuffling some papers on her desk, Adrienne seemed to study them for a moment.

"Arrived just over a week ago – assigned to Cellblock D. Cellmate Cadeja Álvarez… shouldn't be any problems there…" she muttered, as if to herself. Continuing, she said, "A huntress in training, age 18, one younger sister and only one parent listed in your contacts. Born and raised in Patch, a student in Vale… present at the Battle of Beacon."

Yang had the feeling that she'd read all this before. Setting the file aside, Adrienne folded her hands neatly on her desk. Leaning back into her chair, her eyes flicked back up to meet Yang's.

"Yours are some interesting circumstances, Miss Xiao Long," she said, her eyes briefly darting to Yang's injured arm. "And also very public," she continued. "People all over the world were watching the tournament, myself included."

Yang's mouth settled into a frown. She knew full well the stigma of that video would follow her for years to come, even in here.

"And yet you don't strike me as the type to attack somebody who's defenseless," she said, tapping her finger on the desk. "Although," she said, "you clearly aren't averse to getting in fights."

Yang's foot was bouncing rapidly up and down. Unconsciously, her hand prodded her bruised ribs.

Sucking in a breath, Adrienne said, "Anything you want to tell me about what happened with _that_?" With a look she indicated the purple splotches on Yang's face.

"No ma'am, nothing to tell really," said Yang, staring at the wall behind the counselor. "Just fell outta bed one morning. Moving too much in my sleep I guess."

For a moment, her blue eyes flashed at Yang, hardening.

"Right," said Adrienne, stretching out the 'i.' "A lot of girls tend to have little accidents like that in D block – falling out of bed, slipping in the showers. Funny how that happens."

Yang simply shrugged.

Adrienne sighed, leaning her arms on the desk.

"Well if ever there's anything you want to talk about, my door's always open."

 _Like snitching would help_ , thought Yang. _I'd probably just land my ass in the med bay minus a few teeth._

The counselor kept talking, her stern voice pulling Yang's attention away from her thoughts.

"I don't expect you to trust me right away, but it will come in time. You won't find a lot of friends in here, Miss Xiao Long. This isn't an opportunity you'll want to waste," her voice trailed off, watching Yang.

Pursing her lips, Yang couldn't quite tell if Adrienne's tone was one of welcoming or one of warning.

 _What is it exactly that she expects of me?_ she wondered. _If she's worked here for any length of time at all – she knows that if I complain about a girl in here, it'll come back to me tenfold out there._

_So what does she want me to do?_

When it seemed clear to her that Yang wasn't going to reply, Adrienne continued – this time, speaking more straight-forward.

"For today I just wanted to meet in person, and let you know that your commissary has come in. Your approved visitors list should go through soon – probably just some hold up with the paperwork down at the clerk's."

When she said nothing else, Yang stood up – uncertain if she should leave. Adrienne's eyes briefly looked up from a file she had started reading and waved a hand towards the door.

"You can go. CO Reilly will escort you to the Yard for rec hour. I heard you missed your allotted time yesterday."

Yang nodded, mumbling a 'thank you' under her breath as she left the office.

Outside, CO Reilly was leaning against a wall studying the yellowed fingers on his left hand. Seeing her, he wordlessly took her by the arm again and walked her back in the direction they'd come.

On the way, Yang wrestled with the thought that she'd made a mistake by not saying anything about Sasha.

 _One the one hand_ , she mused, _I know nothing about this woman or what her protocol is for reporting attacks on inmates. On the other, she could be one of those 'connections' of Sasha's that Cadeja mentioned – or at least, susceptible to her influence._

_Either way, I can't trust her. At least not yet – not with anything that matters._

Yang's brow furrowed, puzzling over what to do about Sasha.

_If I can't fight her, and I can't tell anyone what happened – what the hell am I supposed to do?_

Lost in thought, she didn't realize they'd arrived at the Yard until Reilly was already releasing his grip on her arm. Leaving her side, he went to go stand by a group of COs milling around on an empty basketball court, "watching" the inmates while smoking a few cigarettes.

Walking over to a set of bleachers, Yang kept an eye out for Sasha. She only recognized a few faces – among them the Verté sisters and a few other women from D block. Sitting down, she took in her surroundings.

Yang had been here a couple times before – the Yard was a large, open field at the very center of the Birdcage. Walled in on four sides by the buildings that made up A through D blocks, it was heavily fortified. Each wall towered five stories overhead, reinforced by a latticework of steel bars.

These bars were a smaller version of the ones that arced up the outside of the building's massive, curving walls – from which Briarcliff earned its nickname. Looking like a giant, metal birdcage, the prison was situated on a rocky outcropping in one of the easternmost mountains that protected the kingdom of Vale.

Yang had only seen it once from the outside, on the day that she'd arrived here. Perched on the edge of the mountain, the surrounding cliff face plunged down into a sheer drop on three sides. These cliffs were called the Suicide Rocks – nobody, neither grimm nor human, could scale them. They were steep and rotting with loose shale.

The Yard itself was the only spec of green this high up the mountain. Sheltered by the walls, a giant oak grew up out of the center of the field. At its highest, the tree nearly brushed the protective force field that connected the tops of the four walls.

It was here that they were allowed to stretch their limbs and get some federally-mandated exercise. For the most part, the large square field was open grass, but around the edges were a few basketball courts (several sans hoops). Dotted throughout the eastern half of the field were picnic tables and bleachers. To the west lay a dilapidated set of weights and benches.

Feeling the skin crawl on the back of her neck, Yang's eyes darted around the Yard. Her hand gripped the cold metal bench under her, and she tensed – feeling like someone was watching her.

Ignoring Cadeja's advice, Yang searched the face of every woman she could see. Her gaze flickered from one to the next, not finding anyone who seemed to even notice her existence.

Yang shivered, jumping down from the bleachers. Pacing, she wandered towards the massive oak tree in the center of the grounds. Her heart fluttered slightly, wondering if Sasha or someone she'd sent was nearby.

Instinctively, she slid into a defensive crouch and put her back against the tree. Her fingers fought the urge to ball up into a fist.

For several minutes, Yang maintained her vigilant watch, scouring the field.

Something rustled in the leaves above her, and her head snapped up. In one of the branches – some twenty feet in the air – a Faunus crouched, staring at her.

Yang shoved herself away from the tree, creating some distance. The Faunus merely tilted her head, her eyes following Yang.

_What the heck?_

The girl looked young, although maybe not as young as Yang had first suspected. Her hair was a reddish-brown and it laid flat against her head, trailing down her back all the way to her waist. Sticking up from her skull were two tall rabbit ears, one of them horribly bent about halfway up. The crushed ear looked like something had snapped inside of it and was never properly set to heal.

Dangling from her neck on a long chain was a pale green stone, its surface smooth and cloudy.

Still facing the girl, Yang backed farther away before turning on her heel and striding across the Yard towards the weights area.

Still feeling the Faunus's strange gaze on her back, Yang pinched her shoulders together and shuddered, walking faster.

Trying to clear her head and shake the sensation, Yang stared up at the blue sky through the opening at the top of the Yard.

Looking back at her was a flock of small crow-like grimm, perched on the force field. Red eyes trained on the inmates in the yard below, they sat nearly motionless – one or two occasionally ruffling their feathers. A particularly large one seemed to meet Yang's eye, cocking its head.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Yang put her head back down and hastened the pace of her march across the field.

Shivering, she thought to herself, _Why do they look like they're… waiting?_


	5. La Llorona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang finally screws up her courage enough to call home. She's reminded a bit of who she was before the Birdcage, but later she finds herself sucked right back into prison life when she overhears a strange conversation in the library. A mix of bad dreams and haunting songs plague her at night.

Where you see a * means that a translation of this passage will be provided at the bottom of the page!

* * *

Behind Bars

Part Five: La Llorona

* * *

"Oye, rubia! Where did you go?" yelled Cadeja, snapping her fingers and waving her hand in front of Yang's spaced out, lilac eyes.

Yang shook her head, snapped out of her reverie.

"Sorry, lost in thought."

"You want to stop?" she asked, her eyes scrutinizing the far-away look on Yang's face.

"No, let's keep going," said Yang, turning her focus back to Cadeja.

Cadeja scoffed. "Can you even tell me the last thing I said?"

A guilty look flashed across Yang's face. For a moment she tried to remember – but honestly, she hadn't been listening for some time. She shook her head.

"No, sorry."

"De verdad? A veces me das rabias, Xiao Long," she said, sighing.

Yang grimaced, not understanding any of the words Cadeja had said. As far as she could tell, the last one sounded something like 'rabies,' but she didn't think it'd be a good idea to confirm that with the wolf Faunus. Biting her tongue, she kept her mouth shut.

Crossing her arms, Cadeja closed her eyes and tucked her chin to her chest.

"I was _tryin'_ to review some of the basic vocab we went over earlier," she huffed. "Dígame, que significa _los cachorros_?"

Yang smiled, she liked that one.

"The puppies!" she answered.

Cadeja rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd remember that one. Qué son estos objetos aquí?" she asked.

"Uh…" Yang looked at the three objects on the bed between them. She knew Cadeja had gone over them at the beginning of tonight's lesson, just as she had during last night's.

Pointing to the first, she said, "El libro."

Cadeja nodded, and Yang moved on to the next. Beside the book was her letter from Taiyang. Not able to remember the word, she skipped it and pointed to the third.

"That one's el espejo," she said triumphantly, indicating the small hand-held mirror. Like with _cachorros_ , she mostly remembered it because it sounded funny.

She sat struggling for another minute, still not remembering the word for "letter."

"I give up," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "What's letter again?"

" _La carta_ ," said Cadeja, collecting the objects and putting them on the desk they shared.

Lying down and stretching out on her bunk, Cadeja rested her head on her hands and closed her eyes.

"I think it's time we call it quits for tonight. By the look on your face, half of you is still a million miles away," she said.

Yang nodded, and stood up from her perch on the edge of Cadeja's bed. She stretched her cramped muscles, noticing that the last of the pain in her ribs had finally faded. After a couple of days slowly using her aura to repair the damage from Sasha's attack, Yang had managed to fully heal herself.

Opening one eye, Cadeja watched her.

"Mind telling me where your thoughts keep takin' you tonight?" she asked.

Yang clambered up the bedframe at the foot of the bunks, where it connected them like a ladder. Hauling herself into her bed, she landed face-first with a small _thud_ , shaking the bunks. She muttered a muffled reply into her pillow.

"Eh?" said Cadeja, white ears swiveling on top of her head. "Speak up, rubia, even _I_ can't hear you when you do that."

Turning her face to the side, Yang repeated, "I was thinking about home. My dad, my sister… I miss them."

Cadeja was quiet for a moment. Turning on her side, Yang slipped a blanket over her shoulders and curled her knees toward her chest.

"Try not to worry about it. Easier said than done, but they'll probably visit you soon. Just give them some time," she said.

"It's not that they _haven't_ come, it's that they _can't_. My approved visitors list still has gone through," replied Yang, glowering.

"Seriously?" asked Cadeja. "You've been here something like two weeks – they usually have that shit figured out after a couple days."

"That counselor they made me see said it'd be approved soon, but still…"

"Did you piss someone off or something?"

"No idea," she said, wrapping herself more tightly in the blanket.

"So call home tomorrow," said Cadeja after a moment. "It's no real substitute – believe me – but it's better than nothing. You got phone privileges don't you?"

"Yeah," Yang whispered, rolling over to face the wall. For days she'd been wrestling with the idea of calling her dad and Ruby, but hadn't had the courage to do it yet.

_What if… I hear it in their voices?_

Yang squeezed her eyes shut, pushing back the thought that maybe – just _maybe_ – she'd hear fear, disappointment, or even anger if she called home.

From a distance, they'd been supportive, but after everything that had happened, and everything that had been said about her – in the courts, on the news – she worried that somehow, she had become a stranger to her own family.

Taking a deep breath, she said – more to herself than to her cellmate, "Yeah, I will."

* * *

The next morning after breakfast, Yang queued up at the phones. They were old-school receivers hooked into metal boxes on the walls by thick cords. They predated the more portable technology that powered modern scrolls.

 _Hell these things probably predate me_ , thought Yang, eyeing them warily.

To her left, a CO lounged against the wall, picking at a scab on the back of his hand. Yang scrunched up her nose in disgust, but kept watching until she was next in line.

Stepping up to one of the phones, she grabbed the receiver and heard the dial tone as it came off the hook. Punching in the number from memory on the dial pad, she held her breath and waited.

On the fifth ring she heard the tone cut off, but instead of her father's voice she heard an automated message start to play:

" _Hello_ ," said the mechanical voice, vaguely female, " _an inmate from Briarcliff Correctional Facility is attempting to reach you. If you wish to accept the call, please press one and stay on the line. Your calls will be connected momentarily_."

Something beeped and after a brief pause, Yang heard her father's voice come through on the other end.

"Yang?" he asked.

"Hey dad, it's me," she said, her hand trembling slightly.

"Yang!" he repeated, excited. "You called! I'm so glad – Ruby! Hey Rrrrrrrrubyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" he yelled. "Ruby your sister's on the phone." A pause. "No seriously get in here!"

Yang smiled.

 _Yup that's dad alright_ , she thought. Somewhere in the background she heard a commotion, and Zwei started barking.

"How're you doing? Are you… you know, 'okay'?" he asked, turning his attention back to the phone.

Yang winced, remembering the bruises that had only just faded from her face and ribs. Shuddering, she also remembered the strange Faunus and the grimm watching her in the Yard.

_Nope, definitely not mentioning any of that…_

"Yang? Yang, you still there?" said her dad, his voice panicked.

"Yeah dad – I'm here! And I'm okay, I'm… getting used to things."

"Good, good," he answered, his tone more serious. "You got the letter I sent right?"

"Yeah dad," she said, her voice wavering a little. "I got it. Thank you," she continued, smiling as she remembered just how well-worn those pages had become.

"Dad, I –" the words hitched in her throat. The sound of her father's voice, the happiness she heard there – she felt so close to something that was _home_ , but it was far away, something she couldn't reach from where she was.

"You don't have to say it," he said. "I know, Yang. Just remember I am always with you. It doesn't matter what happens, or how far apart we are. We're family, baby girl. You're permanently stuck with me."

She nodded, hearing the smile in his voice. Clearing her throat, she kept going.

"Is Ruby there?"

"Yeah, hold on – here she is," he said, handing off his scroll.

Yang waited, but she didn't hear her sister's voice on the line.

Cautiously, she asked, "Ruby?" She paused. "Ruby – are you there?"

"Hi, Yang," came Ruby's small voice.

"Ruby…" whispered Yang, not sure what to say.

"Yang, I – are you –" Ruby's words stuttered and stopped. Yang could hear her sniffling on the other end of the line. Ruby took a few short breathes, sounding to Yang like she was struggling to breathe.

"Yang, I'm scared!" she cried. "I miss you and I can't stopping thinking about that _place_ and how awful-" she wailed, a sob cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Yang, I just want you to come home! I just want to be team RWBY again, after everything that's happened… I just need to know we're all okay. And after losing Pyrrha, and who even knows where Blake is – Yang! I can't lose you! I want my big sister! Yang – Yang…" After that, Ruby's voice quieted. For a moment, she simply repeated her sister's name into the phone.

All the while, Yang listened. Her hand curled into a fist around the receiver and she leaned her forehead against the wall. She felt her eyes watering, but she gritted her teeth and held herself back from crying.

Forcing her voice to stay calm, she said, "Ruby, I am okay. I promise you – that no matter what, no matter how long I'm gone – I am going to be okay, and I am going to come home to you and to dad and to our family."

She paused, listening as the sounds of Ruby crying seemed to quiet down a little.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Ruby," she said, trying to sound stern. "It's not going to be easy. Not for you, not for me, and especially not for dad. He might look okay, but you know what he's like." Yang heard a small laugh escape from Ruby. Smiling, she said, "He'll put on a brave face and crack one too many bad jokes, but it's all just for show."

"Yeah, I know," answered Ruby. From what Yang could tell, she had stopped crying.

After that, Ruby seemed more like her old self. For a few minutes she chattered on about stuff that was happening with Weiss, Jaune, and Zwei – filling Yang in on bits of everyday life that she'd been missing. Keeping an eye on the clock, she interrupted Ruby's story about how Weiss had a little brother she'd never mentioned before when there was only about thirty seconds left for her phone privileges that day.

"Ruby, I've got to go in a sec – it's been really good to hear your voice. Will you say goodbye to dad for me?"

"Sure," she said. "And Yang – I'm glad you're doing okay."

After that, Yang hung up the receiver and took a couple deep breaths.

 _See Xiao Long?_ she thought to herself. _You're okay, everything's okay…_

Straightening up, she walked over to the exit to check out with one of the guards. Looking down at his message board, he grunted.

"CO Lowell!" he barked.

The short woman appeared hastily in the doorway. Looking somewhat disheveled, she said, "Yes, sir?"

"Please escort the inmate to the library!" he yelled. Apparently this guy only had one volume – _loud_. "She is to report for her new work assignment!"

 _Damn another one?_ thought Yang.

"Yes sir!" replied Lowell. Taking Yang's arm, she guided her out of the room and down the hall.

After a short ways, she let her hand drop and walked side by side with Yang. Looking down from behind the curtain of her hair, Yang watched the woman intently as she hummed a light tune under her breath.

"Sorry if the humming bothers you," she said, catching Yang staring at her. "Half the time I don't even notice I'm doing it."

Guiltily, Yang muttered, "No – it's nice."

Turning her face towards Yang she flashed a brilliant smile.

"Good," she said brightly, and then went back to her song.

After a few minutes, they reached the library doors. Pushing one aside, CO Lowell waved Yang through before turning on her heel and humming her way back down the hall.

Looking around, Yang met the eye of the inmate who served as the librarian. She was young but her hair was a gray-ish blue and pulled back into a severe bun, making her appear a bit older than she probably was. Startled, Yang found that she was already glaring at her through the square spectacles perched on the bridge of her nose.

 _Yeesh_ , she thought. _This is going to go swimmingly, isn't it?_

Walking over, Yang waved and opened her mouth to say hi but she was promptly cut off.

"Yeah I know who you are – they told me I'd be getting an assistant, _an assistant I don't need_ ," she hissed. Her arms were crossed defensively over her chest. "I've got a perfectly good system in place here, and I don't need you fucking it up. So why don't you just sit at one of the tables somewhere and stay out of the way, hm?"

 _Well alright then. New best friend_.

"Uh – yeah, sure I think I can manage that," replied Yang, walking away.

From behind her, she thought she heard the librarian mutter something like, 'I'd certainly hope so.' Belatedly, Yang realized she hadn't even gotten the woman's name.

Stomping through the rows of bookshelves, Yang threw herself into a chair at one of the tables. Its surface was cluttered with books, some of them laying open at random pages.

 _Oh yeah – some system you got here_ , she griped to herself.

For several minutes she just sat there, leaning her chin on her hand, elbow propped up on the table. She looked at the shelves without really seeing them, her thoughts still half-running through the phone call home.

But after a while, she started to pick through one of the books on the table. Bored, she flipped through the pages, not really taking in any of the story. But the pages had that old book smell – that sort of musty, smoky smell that managed to be kind of homey.

_Reminds me of Blake..._

Her hand stopped flipping through the pages and her mouth pulled down into a frown. Since the trial, she had made it a point to not think about her partner – her _friend_ – who hadn't even been around to help her when she needed it most.

She had just done what Blake seems to do best – disappear.

Regardless, Yang couldn't control every thought she had – and there were times when she would snap out of a memory, and realize that she missed her friend.

_Blake._

_Where are you?_

Shaking her head, Yang closed the book. Looking for a distraction, she glanced at its spine and located its call numbers. Standing up, she scanned the shelves. The system of letters and numbers that the library used to shelve its books was easy enough to follow, and after a few minutes Yang had the knack of it.

Walking down the rows, she searched for the section where the book belonged. Scanning the numbers on the books as she passed by, she almost missed it when she nearly stumbled into a group of women arguing in hushed tones on the other side of the bookcase.

Peering through the cracks between shelves, Yang spied a tall woman with sandy hair that she recognized to be Leonie Verté. She was facing away from Yang, staring down at a woman who leaned casually against the bookshelf on the other side of their isle.

Yang's eyes narrowed, and she had to stop herself from making a noise.

_Sasha – what the hell is she doing here? Somehow she doesn't strike me as a big reader…_

From what Yang could tell, Sasha was alone. Hands in her pockets, she looked perfectly at ease – except for the slightest hint of irritation that she couldn't quite hide in her eyes.

On either side of Leonie stood two Faunus. One was her sister, the other was a small-boned woman with short black horns that stood up from her skull, curving slightly to a dulled point. They reminded Yang of an antelope's.

Straining to hear, Yang held her breath – listening.

"You think I don't know what you are?" she heard Leonie hiss.

Sasha's eyes hardened and her body tensed. Whatever Leonie was talking about, she hadn't expected it.

Before anyone could react, Yang heard a sound deep in Leonie's throat and a moment later she spit in Sasha's face. Yang watched Sasha's expression turn red with a silent rage. After a moment, Sahsa raised a slow, deliberate hand to wipe away the spit.

"There's no place for your kind here," said Leonie, continuing her tirade. "None of us in the Wilds will _ever_ have any dealings with you and yours."

For some reason that Yang couldn't fathom, Sasha remained quiet through all of this. From what she could tell, it sounded like Sasha had asked the Faunus for something – something she clearly wasn't going to get.

Leonie's back moved away from the bookcase behind which Yang was hiding. The looming Faunus stepped over to Sasha, the tip of her tail making playful circles in the air.

In a voice so low that Yang could hardly hear, Leonie said, "How does it feel? To be cut off from _it_? To know there's nothing you can do with that damn thing around your ankle?"

Sasha flinched, her serene façade breaking as her mouth curved down into a snarl.

More confused than ever, Yang tried to make sense of what Leonie had said.

_What does she mean 'it'? And what does it have to do with the monitors? Does she mean her semblance?_

Yang paused, watching Sasha push herself away from the bookcase, shoving her face up toward Leonie's. Jaw jutting forward, her mouth widened into a manic grin – and after a moment, she simply walked away, without a word.

 _But if it was her semblance – why not just say it?_ Yang thought, still puzzling over the exchange.

For the rest of her shift, Yang went back and forth between the mystery surrounding Sasha and the Faunus, her concern for Ruby, and her confused feelings for Blake. The more it all mixed together in her mind, the more her head started to hurt.

When it was finally time to leave, Yang was looking forward to the cold D block showers, hoping the water would help calm her thoughts.

* * *

Later that night, Yang had eventually sunken into a fitful sleep. The sheets and blankets were a knotted mess, twisted around her limbs. As she had on many nights before, Yang dreamt of the Fall of Beacon – but this time, the dream was different.

 _As usual, she heard the_ clang _and_ snick _of Adam's blade, just before the flames started licking up her arm and side – her body a world of fire._

_She heard a scream – either Blake's or hers, she wasn't sure._

_Then her view faded to black, but she remembered the distinct sensation of being carried – of being in someone's arms, her ear pressed against their chest. She could feel the rise and fall of their breathing, and hear the echoing thrum of their heartbeat._

_Something about the arms that held her felt familiar – safe._

_Sometime later, her eyes opened, and she was in a room lit by fires outside the windows – raging down the street. Her armed burned and now it throbbed too – as if something had been bound tightly around her bicep._

_She saw a curtain of dark hair – a sliver of white skin, and a pair of yellow eyes._

_Some distant part of her mind knew she was looking at Blake, but consciously she felt no recognition._

_Staring past her, Yang was surprised to see Ruby. Half in shadows, her sister stood – staring back at Yang – and pointing at her right arm._

_Over and over and over again, she said the same thing –_

_But when she spoke, it wasn't her voice but Cadeja's._

" _Ave rota – la sangre cae. Ave rota – la sangre llora. Ave rota – la sangre…"_

_Yang blinked, confused. The edges of her vision blurred, snapping back into focus around Blake's face. Her lips were pulled back in an openmouthed grimace – bearing two gleaming, white fangs._

_Yang opened her mouth and let loose scream after scream, squeezing her eyes shut and trying not to hear the words:_

" _Ave rota – la sangre habla. Ave rota – la sangre r_ _íe. Ave rota…"_

"Shh, ave rota. Cálmate. Shh, shh, shh."

Yang woke with a start. She jerked upright, but found a restraining hand on her chest. Slowly, Yang's breathing returned to normal and she realized where she was.

Eyes adjusting to the darkness in her cell, Yang looked up and saw Cadeja sitting in her bed amidst the wild torrent of sheets. Yang's head was cradled in her lap. One of Cadeja's hands was on her chest, the other was running through her hair.

"Está bien, ave rota. No llores más. Cálmate, respira," said Cadeja softly, her voice trailing off into silence.

For a few minutes they sat quietly, saying nothing. Yang focused on taking deep, even breaths and felt the tracks of tears drying down her cheeks.

Somewhere in the dark, a woman started to sing – her voice high and soft. They listened to her, her song trickling down to them from one of the floors above.

Yang had heard her singing before, usually late at night. She had a beautiful voice, which is probably the only reason no one complained (at least, not usually). It had a motherly, almost lullaby-like quality to it.

She didn't know who the singer was, and so Yang had simply started referring to her as "the lark" in her mind.

Whispering in the dark, Yang shared this observation with Cadeja.

Cadeja shook her head. "That's no ordinary songbird," she said. "Ella es la Llorona."

"Who's that?" Yang asked, turning her head slightly in Cadeja's lap, trying to get a better look at her cellmate's face as she spoke.

In the darkness, Yang could make out the gleaming curve of one fang that curled down over Cadeja's lip, even though her mouth was closed. Yang had started to recognize this habit of hers as something that she did while her mind wandered.

"Ella es la madre – the mother of half-breeds. At the height of her despair, she killed her children. In many versions of the story, she also took her own life, and returned to stalk the land as the ghost who cries – la Llorona. She couldn't live with the pain of what she and her children were."

She paused.

" _Porque cuando uno es dos, pero dos no pueden ser uno – los dos lados luchan, y los dos pierden. Por eso, se mueren los hijos del cielo y la tierra, de la luna y el sol – se sufren las madres, que son malditas en esta vida…_ "*

Something about Cadeja's words sounded like they were remembered, as if from a childhood story or a prayer.

"Listen," she said. "Her words tell it all. It's not surprising to hear this particular song here in the Wilds. The story is very popular among the Faunus."

Concentrating, Yang strained to discern the words of the woman's song. The tune was sad and simple, and easy enough for her to follow.

_By the river, stride by stride_

_In the moonlight, side by side_

_Little footsteps, ghostly light_

_Follow with me, through the night._

_In the water's, washing tide_

_Red the ripples, I might hide_

_But my eyes will see the truth –_

_My hands are bloodied, bleeding youth._

_By my body, they were born –_

_But for my shame, the river mourns._

_By the river, stride by stride_

_In the moonlight, side by side_

_Little footsteps, ghostly light_

_Follow with me through the night…_

Each time the song circled back to the chorus, something twinged inside Yang's stomach. For some reason she couldn't quite name, she felt like crying again.

She nibbled mindlessly on her lip and closed her eyes. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, feeling Cadeja's fingers gently combing through her hair.

* * *

*Translation: Because when one is two, but two can't be one – the two sides fight, and they both lose. For this reason, the children of the sky and the earth, of the moon and the sun, they die – the mothers suffer, cursed in this life.


	6. Yang's First Lockdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loud sounds startle Yang awake in the middle of the night: Briarcliff is going into lockdown. Will she find out what caused the chaos? Or will she simply have to find a way to get by?

Behind Bars

Part Six: Yang's First Lockdown

* * *

The first thing Yang noticed were the sounds –

Everywhere, sirens blared and honked and screamed and screeched. A steady babble of voices rose and fell, waves crashing over her ears and slamming into her face as she jolted upright in bed.

Through it all, something metallic buzzed and crackled, providing a steady, regular beat amidst the chaos.

Then the lights –

Gloomy red lights blaring in her eyes. Dizzying flashes of bright white. A yellow blur that spun around the room – there and gone, there and gone.

Yang's vision tried to adjust to the dark, then the light, the dark, then the light. The effort to focus left her reeling in place, struggling to stay upright in her bed.

Guards yelling. A girl screamed – and somewhere in the mess, she could hear the lark singing. Not her usual high, clear lullabies – something sung to herself, low and like a prayer. In a sense, it was as if she'd never stopped, as if the humming tones drifting down from her cell had followed Yang into her sleep, and greeted her again when she awoke to the barrage of noises –

"LOCK IT DOWN! LOCK IT DOWN!"

A CO's voice deep and harsh, growing louder as he ran down the row of cells on the level below them.

"I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK YOU LOCK THIS SHIT DOWN NOW! CLOSE OFF D BLOCK! CLOSE IT OFF!"

A harsh rattling sound, wet and low buzzed in Yang's ear. It took her a moment to recognize it as the sound of her own breathing.

She heard the crash as the gates slammed shut, sealing off each of the five levels of D block – isolating them from Briarcliff's other containment units. Steel bars clanged together in her ears, momentarily surging over and above the crowd of restless voices.

But then the sea of sounds rushed back – girls yelling, screaming, cursing – demanding to be heard.

"CO! What's going on?"

"What happened?"

"FUCK YOU CO!"

"CO! CO! We have a right to know!"

Guards, irritated, yelled back – adding the cacophony.

"YOU GOT NO FUCKING RIGHTS IN HERE INMATE! SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!"

The war of voices raged on. Even as Yang strained to hear she lost track, too many threads of too many mismatched conversations shaking the concrete walls, slithering through the bars, and dying off in the distance.

"Guard! My cellmate needs help, she-"

"HELP! WE NEED HELP!"

"Call the Warden, damnit we're going code r-"

"Who died?"

"SOMEBODY'S DEAD?"

More screams.

"AIN'T NOBODY FUCKING D-"

The guard's voice was drowned out, overwhelmed by a series of crying, screeching, roaring:

"LET US OUT LET US OUT LET US OUT!"

Outside Yang's cell, a guard hissed into his radio –

"This is CO Willis, get Warden Vincent on the phone. We need more men in D and A blocks now!"

"Containment protocols underway, lockdown has initiated in Cellblock D-"

"COOOO, COOOO WHAT IS GOING ON?"

All the while, sirens continued to whine and wail – the metallic thrumming still pulsing in and out; distant and then close, distant and then close.

Yang's sheets were matted about her legs, sweaty and warm. She felt the temperature rising all around her, getting hotter and hotter with each pass of the rotating yellow light. It wasn't until the monitor around her ankle starting beeping that she realized the heat was coming from her own semblance.

"Cool it, rubia. Get that under control before you do somethin' stupid," yelled Cadeja above the noise. Her head popped up from her bunk, appearing a few feet away from Yang's – first in the dark, then in the light, then in the dark again as the lights continued to sweep in and out of their cell.

"It's already hot as fuck in here – cool it down! Ahora mismo! You hear me?" she roared, fangs flashing.

Yang nodded, focusing. She tried to block out as much noise as she could and slowed her breathing. Balling up the sheets in her hand, she let her muscles contract and then slowly – finger by finger, joint by joint – she released, letting the tension and the energy flow out of her in waves that matched the steady pace of her breathing.

The beeping stopped and the light in her monitor faded back to a dull green.

"Good," said Cadeja – but Yang couldn't hear her. Even as she got herself under control, the other women in D block started to riot inside their cells.

Joining Cadeja on the ground, she went to the front of their cell and looked out. Yang watched, entranced, as the women across from her – above and below – rattled the bars of their cells, pulling on them fruitlessly and screaming their rage and their fear and their frustration at the guards and at each other and at no one in particular.

The noise grew and grew and grew – a monster alive in the Wilds. Women yowled and roared and cried, one woman directly above them was sobbing outright.

Then the beeps.

Beep beep beep beep beep.

Louder, the chorus of mechanized clicks shrieked –

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

The harsh keening descended over Yang and Cadeja. The wolf Faunus flattened her sensitive ears to her skull, covering them with her hands as her mouth widened into a soundless snarl.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

And still the sirens blared and women shouted and guards roared and their radios chattered and the buzzing and the thrumming and the clanging and the

BEEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEP

The individual noises disappeared into an ocean at war with itself, the beeps lengthened and grew louder, shrieks now ripping from a hundred speakers

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

Then cracks of lightning split the air and sounds like none Yang had ever heard before came tearing out of the inmates' throats around her. Scream after scream rammed home its crescendo, and then cut off – zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZAPPPPPP – with the crack of an electric spark that flared to life.

Across from them, Yang watched a dark skinned woman howl and drop to the floor – looking more dead than unconscious in a heap of disordered limbs. The woman's cellmate screamed and cried, draping herself over the body.

 _The monitors_ … thought Yang.

In their panic, women had let their natural defenses rise – driving their aura levels higher and higher until the monitors entered the red zone and retaliated, electrocuting them into submission.

Horrified, Yang listened to screams that died and ended in sickening _thumps_ as more and more women were blasted by the electric currents unleashed by the monitors.

"That'll shut 'em up," said a guard, near enough to be heard over the sirens and the ongoing screams and cries of the prisoners. Something about the gruff voice rattled in Yang's memory. Belatedly, she recognized it as belonging to CO Reilly.

"INMATES," bellowed a guard, fighting to be heard above the noise raging through D block.

Yang turned to Cadeja with a questioning look.

" _Kowalski,_ " she mouthed.

Yang nodded, and went back to trying to hear what was going on around her.

"INMATES! BACK TO YOUR BUNKS! GET AWAY FROM THE BARS AND SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN. WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING TO UNFUCK THE SITUATION. SIT. YOUR. FUCKING. ASSES. DOWN!"

Of course, Kowalski's words did nothing to soothe the roaring tide of inmates, squawking and hollering in their cells. While a few cowered away from the bars of their cell doors, afraid of having their exposed hands rapped with an errant nightstick, most just redoubled their efforts to wring answers out of the COs.

Amidst the crowd screaming "What's going on!" and "Let us out!" Yang heard a distinct few women bawling, crying out "I want to go home! Let me go home!" and begging for their mothers. Some of them Yang recognized as usually distant, hardened women who – from Cadeja – she had learned had made more than one trip to the Birdcage.

 _Something about this lockdown…_ Yang started to try to puzzle it out, but after a few frustrating moments she found it was impossible to connect two thoughts together amidst all the noise and flashing lights.

She felt Cadeja's hand on her arm, tugging her back toward the bunks. Rather than climbing up into her own, Yang settled at the foot of Cadeja's bed. However, she stay half-turned towards the cell door so she could still see what was going on across from her on the other side of D block.

From her vantage point on the second floor, she could see down to the first as well as up into most of the third floor, but what was going on above in the two highest levels, she had no idea.

For hours, she sat perched on the edge of the bed – just watching as guards ran back and forth, either coming up from the level below or running down from one of the floors above. Each time, they were accompanied by a series of buzzing and clicks as they had to use their access cards to navigate the extra security locks between levels.

Even as the night stretched on, the lights never stopped and the inmates kept up their cries. Every once in a while, another woman would push her aura levels too far and get zapped by the monitor around her ankle. Their screams punctuated the flux of noise, echoing down the empty space between the rows of cells.

After a while, the din became background noise. To Yang, it almost felt like she was going deaf. She switched between staring out between the bars of their cell, and watching Cadeja.

Mostly the Faunus just lounged at the head of her bed, her head resting in her hands. Eyes closed, she affected a sense of calm – one that Yang knew thinly veiled a bubbling panic underneath.

Her mouth was tense, and every so often she nibbled on the edge of her bottom lip with one of her fangs. She might have been imagining it, but to Yang it even seemed like Cadeja's spikey white-gray hair bristled from time to time when the noise outside shrieked back up in a macabre crescendo.

But eventually, the noise from the inmates slowly died out. The night lengthened, dipping into the small hours of the morning. Still, most didn't sleep – even if they did finally allow themselves to relax. Now and then, Yang could make out the sounds of a guard's hurried footsteps, then the buzz-click-clang of a CO being waved through a security gate.

As far as she could tell, D block was still sealed off from the rest of the prison because the number of guards seemed to stay the same, none entering from the Western side where the doors led to the cafeteria, the center of the Briarcliff compound, and beyond – to B and C blocks.

But when the fluorescent ceiling lights flickered on at 6 a.m. and the COs made no move to take girls to the morning showers or escort them to the cafe for breakfast, the yelling started to surge back up –

First a few girls, and then more, and more until all of D block was in an uproar again – rattling the bars and screaming at the guards as they ran past, from station to station.

Yang had stood up – intending to stand by the bars and see if she could tell what the guards were _doing_ amidst all this, but she stopped when Cadeja spoke for the first time in hours.

"Don't bother, ave rota. You ain't gonna find any answers by staring out there. Take it from me, you're just gonna have to ride this one out – and it's going to take a while," she said, staring past Yang to the bars beyond.

Yang hesitated – halfway between the bunks and the cell door, but she nodded – recognizing the wisdom in Cadeja's words. Yang didn't know much – like what Cadeja had done to land herself in the Birdcage, or how long she'd ultimately be there – but she did know that this wasn't her first time around a prison, and she spoke with the voice of experience.

It was one of those moments – like a nagging thought, a second of dissonance – that Yang wondered if the person she saw – the kind, if not entirely patient, and even mothering Cadeja – was the person she really seemed to be. She'd certainly done _something_ to end up in jail, not once, but at least _twice_.

Shaking her head to dispel the thought, Yang plopped back down onto the end of Cadeja's bed. This time, she turned her back to the front of their cell, trying to focus on anything but the noise, the running, the screaming, and the occasional beep, beep, beep.

* * *

For two days they stayed in lockdown.

For two days, not a single woman in D block left her cell. Close-lipped guards didn't say a word to shed any light on what had happened. They just scurried to and fro, and twice a day they ferried in trays of food from the cafeteria.

Eventually, Yang and Cadeja had to avail themselves of the toilet in their cell. It was a much-avoided, rather odious object that they usually didn't need – but without access to the D bathrooms, it became a necessary evil.

When Yang had to go, Cadeja pulled the sheet from her bed to cover the front of their cell for privacy. When she stood there holding it rather than hanging it, Yang asked why.

"Because, rubia – they see me here holdin' it, they know where I am. I hang the sheet and walk away, they'll think I'm doin' my roommate, you feel me?"

After that, Yang didn't ask any more questions.

Then – finally – on the morning of the third day, something changed. Floor by floor, the cells were opened and the inmates were escorted under heavy guard to the cafeteria.

Some women panicked, and tried to run – but they were either subdued by COs or the electric mechanisms in their monitors were remotely activated.

After a few of those, no more prisoners tried to run.

D block was emptied from the top down, so Yang and Cadeja were among the last to leave the Wilds. By the time they reached the cafeteria, several hundred women were already huddled in groups around the room – too many women to be just from D block alone.

From what Yang could tell, the guards had bolstered their numbers – there seemed to be one CO for every ten girls. She guessed there was staff from at least two cellblocks, and probably some extra duty shift officers flown in by airships overnight.

In the crush of people, Yang momentarily lost sight of Cadeja as the crowd surged away from the entrance of the cafe. Once she was a little further in and had some space to maneuver, she started to glance around for the tell-tale shaggy white mane of the wolf Faunus.

Distracted by her search, Yang nearly jumped out of her skin when a small white hand landed on her breast. Spinning around, Yang defensively slapped the hand away and found herself facing the strange rabbit Faunus with the mangled ear, the one she'd seen in the great oak tree out in the Yard.

The girl's face was an odd mix of surprise and hurt, her mouth gaping open and her eyes wavering. She snatched her hand to her chest and cradled it as if it were wounded.

Yang almost felt sorry, and was considering apologizing when Cadeja reappeared by her side.

"You got a problem, Xiao Long?" she said, eyes bearing down on the rabbit.

"No – no I think we're good here. Let's go," said Yang, pulling Cadeja away.

But even as they turned to leave, the girl uttered a strangled cry and ran away, skittering through the crowded room.

"Do you know who that was?" asked Yang.

Cadeja shook her head.

"Not really. Seen her around, all I know is her name is Freya Harrison. She's got a rep for bein' one of the weird ones. Add her to the list of people you should avoid."

"Is there anyone besides you who _isn't_ on that list?"

"Who said I wasn't, rubia?" said Cadeja, grinning.

Eyes scanning the room, Cadeja paused for a moment.

"Huh, A Block got hit too," she said.

"How do you know?"

"I recognize some of the girls," she answered. Then, pointing towards the back of the room, she said, "There's a friend of mine."

"You have friends?" Yang asked, surprised.

"Fuck off," said Cadeja, rolling her eyes and smiling.

Gradually, they picked their way across the room to the place where Cadeja had pointed. As they passed, Yang picked up on fragments of conversations that crisscrossed and clashed against one another.

Mostly, she heard girls talking about the lockdown – and what had caused it. Needless to say, the rumor mill was alive and well in the Birdcage.

"…bunch of girls offed themselves in their cells, bedsheets around their necks…"

"…Well _I_ heard somebody got caught fucking a guard…"

"…No, no, no – it's like this: some Faunus bitch got shanked in the showers, huge bloody mess…"

"…no I heard that weird blonde chick – yeah, yeah that one who follows Sasha around like a puppy – got _raped_ …"

"…that bitch escaped? Nah – like hell I'd believe that… What she do? Dig her way out with spoons? Shit's impossible…"

"…damn fuckers pulling some serious shit, practically asking for a grimm attack… wouldn't be the first…"

Able to ignore most, that last one caught Yang's ear and settled with her.

_The grimm – it'd make sense, with all this chaos – and why just A and D blocks? They make up the eastern facing half of the prison… the only side not protected by the cliffs…_

Yang's thoughts were interrupted when Cadeja pulled her to a stop by the back wall. Sitting cross-legged in front of her was a small woman, perhaps the same age as Cadeja – maybe in her late twenties? She had dirty-blonde hair that ran stick-straight down her back. She looked up at Yang with hazel eyes, not so much _seeing_ her as seeming to look through her. Vaguely, Yang noticed a dark skinned woman with her hair buzzed short kneeling behind her.

"Church," said Cadeja, "meet ave rota. Ave rota? Meet Church."

Yang tried not to squirm under the woman's strange gaze. Clearing her throat, she attempted to improve upon Cadeja's introduction.

"Uh, yeah – hi!" she said, sounding a tad too cheery. "The name's Yang, actually."

She held out her hand to shake, but Church made no move to take it.

"Hello. My name is Isabel Churchill," she said in a rather clipped, mechanical tone, "Inmate number 01-1963." Then, as if an afterthought, she said, "But you may call me Church. Most do."

Yang looked at Cadeja and pulled her aside a step, whispering in her ear.

"Is she… _alright?"_ she asked.

"Don't be rude, rubia. Church es una vidente – a seer. She is much respected amongst my people."

"She's a Faunus?" said Yang, surprised.

Cadeja smirked. "She may not look it, but Church's got a set of claws on her like you wouldn't believe." She paused, jerking her chin towards the woman behind Church. "But Mirra isn't – she's human. She takes care of Church – she has a tendency to forget to eat. She's not the most… grounded person."

Turning back around, Cadeja asked, "Hey Church – you got any idea what's caused this mess?"

Something about her eyes sharpened for a second, but she merely shook her head.

"I wonder if the grimm really did attack…" muttered Yang.

"If they didn't before, they certainly are now," chimed in Church, her voice a little too chipper. "It's not surprising, what with all the panic from the lockdown."

 _Is this girl for real?_ thought Yang.

"We're good though, Church, right?" asked Cadeja, kneeling.

Church paused, head lilting to the side.

"We're safe," she said.

Yang saw Cadeja make that odd gesture with her hand over her heart again, and then she took Church's hand and kissed it. Yang's eyes practically bugged out of her head.

_Did she just…?_

Looking away, Yang's eye landed on Mirra. The girl had been mostly silent, hovering just behind Church. But as Yang watched, the girl started shaking, her eyes locked onto something behind Yang's back.

_Oh shit…_

Yang, turned and – as she expected – saw Sasha sauntering over to their group. Behind her trailed Roxie and one or two others Yang didn't know.

Noticing Yang's shift in posture, Cadeja stood and turned to face the newcomers, crossing her arms defensively over her chest.

"What do we have here?" cooed Sasha. Looking past Yang and Cadeja, she spied Church and Mirra sitting on the ground. Eyes taking in the quivering girl, she grinned. "Scared, Mirra? Afraid your big bad Faunus bitch can't protect you, _traitor_?" she hissed.

"Hey!" yelled Cadeja, putting herself between Sasha and the two girls on the ground.

"Out of the way, puta, the people are speaking," she sneered.

Yang practically jumped at the snarl that ripped up through Cadeja's throat.

"I'm nobody's _bitch_ ," she said, her voice barely under control.

Ignoring her, Sasha turned her attention to Yang. Something must have registered on her face – still startled from Cadeja's growl – because Sasha smiled.

"Aw," she purred, her tone babyish, "Is this little Yang's first lockdown?"

She laughed and the girls behind her hurried to follow suit, chattering like little birds.

"Wouldn't want such a _special_ little girl to get scared now, would we?" she continued, still smiling.

Yang glared at her, eyes flashing red for a moment before she could bite back a retort. She focused on her breathing, forcing herself to remain calm.

"I won't stay – clearly you and your little Faunus friends were in the middle of something dreadfully important," she said, waving her hand. "Just wanted to check on you, sister, and remind you to be careful of who your _friends_ are," she jeered, eyeing Cadeja and Church.

Turning on her heel, her long black ponytail whipped Yang in the face as she disappeared back into the crowd, goons in tow. As she left, Yang caught another glimpse of the tattoo peaking above the collar of her shirt.

"I'm getting sick of this weird shit with her. Every time she says _sister_ my skin crawls. Still no idea why she calls me that?" she asked, looking at Cadeja.

"She doesn't call everyone that, just the ones that are like her," said Church, chiming in.

Yang jerked, surprised. Turning her attention back to the woman sitting on the ground, Yang said, "What do you mean, _the ones that are like her_?"

"I mean what I said," she stated simply.

"But I'm nothing like her!" Yang shouted, pointing in the direction Sasha had disappeared.

Church shrugged. "In many ways, that is true."

Frustrated, Yang stamped her foot, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"My head hurts. Weeks and I still know nothing about Sasha, what she wants with me, and what's going on between her and the Faunus." Pausing, she looked at Cadeja again. "Any idea what that tattoo is on her back?"

Cadeja shook her head. "What do you think – we're all perverts in here? I don't go peeping in other people's showers, Xiao Long," she said, waggling her eyebrows.

Yang could tell that she was teasing but she was in no mood. Seeing that she was serious, Cadeja said, "Honestly I've only glimpsed it once or twice. Fucker's huge – maybe a dragon or something?"

"It's not a dragon," said Church, playing with a scrap of fabric in her hands.

Cadeja pretended to be surprised, " _You_ been peeking in people's showers now, Church?"

The small girl didn't even bother to answer her.

Yang waited for a moment, but she said nothing else.

"If it's not a dragon, do you know what it is?" she asked.

Church's eyes came up to meet hers, a dreamy, far-away look about them.

"Yes," she said.

"Aaaaaaaaand?" said Yang, impatient.

"You'll find out, in time." With that, she went back to folding and unfolding the piece of worn fabric in her hands.

Yang was about to try to strangle more information out of the eccentric Faunus, but the words died in her throat when something slammed into the wall, and all of Briarcliff seemed to shake with the impact.

A silence swept over the room; conversations died into a sudden hush. Wind buffeted the building, metal creaking – and in the distance, Yang could've sworn she heard… _squawking._

After a few minutes, noise bubbled back into the room as girls resumed their gossip, some crying and others yelling, but for the most part the room stayed calm – a forced sort of calm that didn't quite cover up the women casting their eyes over their shoulders, stopping every so often to listen for another distant sound.

"I wonder if we'll ever find out what started all this," said Yang, "instead of just listening to all these damn rumors. I'd kill to know what's really going on out there."

Turning to face her, Cadeja's face was set into a stern mask. Quietly, she said, "We'll probably never know, ave rota. In here, the truth comes last – only fear comes first."

* * *

Author's note: So, posted another three chapters of this today! I'll be back with more so long as there's people who want to keep reading! And please as always feel free to let me know what you think of how the story's going!


	7. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang's approved visitors list finally goes through, and her family is coming to the Birdcage. Later, Yang has another tete a tete with her counselor.

Behind Bars:

Part Seven: Visitors

* * *

In the two weeks that had passed since the lockdown, Yang hadn't come any closer to finding out what had caused the incident in the first place.

Rumors still buzzed around the Birdcage, most of them getting more ridiculous by the day. And the COs remained resolutely tight-lipped.

Only one thing was certain: the line between the humans and the Faunus was thicker than ever.

In the wake of all the chaos, tensions had spiked – eliminating whatever semblance of peace had existed before. Trust was a hard thing to come by in Briarcliff, but the recent wave of panic had broken the thin complacency that had settled between the warring factions of the Wilds.

As Cadeja had said, fear ruled them all.

But for today, Yang would set aside her search. Today – she had other things to worry about.

Today, her family was finally coming to visit.

After weeks of waiting, Yang had finally gotten word that her approved visitors list had made it through the system. From there, all it had taken was a simple phone call home – and Taiyang was practically already dragging Ruby out of the house, ready to go.

Yang smiled to herself, remembering. After so long, she'd been worried that the anticipation and the waiting would leave her nervous and even dreading the visit, but now that the day had finally arrived, she felt eager to see her family again.

A feeling of homesickness that she had rarely allowed herself to acknowledge had welled up inside her – with the recent fear and panic, she hadn't been able to suppress it completely. If nothing else, the visit would provide a welcome distraction.

So for two days – two days until visitors were allowed into Briarcliff, ferried in by weekend airships – Yang kept her head down, a stupid grin occasionally spreading across her face. Sometimes, she practically bounced around their cell – and Cadeja would roll her eyes and shake her head, the black-tufted tip of one white ear twitching.

She went to work and avoided the librarian – whose name was Darrah, she had learned – and for two, blessed days – she saw neither Sasha nor any of her followers.

The only hiccup was that she practically ran over Freya – the bent-eared rabbit Faunus – while running laps in the Yard. The strange, skittish little girl practically jumped out of her skin. Seeing Yang up close caused her lip to quiver, and with color rushing to her cheeks she bounded away across the green.

Barring that brief incident, Yang blew through the forty eight hours that separated her from her family – bringing her to the moment where she now sat in the visiting room, knee bouncing under the table and looking up at the door every time a new visitor was escorted in by one of the guards.

The room was a fairly large, rectangular space dotted with round metal tables and curved benches nailed to the floor. Fluorescent lights occasionally flickered, buzzing weakly from their perches on the high, vaulted ceiling.

Whoever had built the Birdcage had at least made an effort to force some cheeriness into the room, painting the walls a light shade of pink rather than the standard issue off-white.

For half an hour, she watched the door. A series of guests trickled in, a new group appearing every few minutes. After thirty minutes of waiting, Yang slumped in her seat – energy spent. Some of her initial excitement waned, replaced by impatience.

After watching yet another group ushered in by the guards, Yang glowered at the door. Paranoid thoughts kept tugging at her mind, buzzing around her brain.

_What if they couldn't come?_

_What if something happened?_

… _what if the list wasn't really approved yet?_

Mood darkening, Yang stewed in her seat, arm crossed over her chest. With an exasperated breath, she blew an errant strand of hair out of her eyes.

Finally, after another fifteen minutes of watching the door – listening to the sluggish _tick tick_ of the clock above – Yang sat up straight as Ruby and Taiyang appeared in the doorway. Unconsciously, her hand gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles blanching white.

Ruby spotted her and waved, a characteristic smile spread across her face.

"Yang!" she called, crossing the room.

Taiyang followed her as they picked their way through the sea of tables. Rising from the bench, Yang was surprised to notice Qrow trailing close behind them, his eyes sifting through the faces in the room.

Ignoring the plastic signs hanging on the walls that posted warnings like "NO RUNNING" and "LIMITED CONTACT WITH INMATES," Ruby barreled into Yang's chest at top speed, nearly knocking her over in a fierce embrace. Worriedly, Yang caught a female CO's eye, but the woman simply grunted and turned away.

Relieved, Yang hugged her sister back as tightly as she could. She felt Ruby flinch when the stub of her right arm pressed into her back, but after a moment she quickly relaxed.

Not waiting for them to break apart, Taiyang surrounded them both in his arms, leaning back and momentarily lifting them off the ground. _That_ little display managed to draw another disgruntled sound from the guard so he let go and stepped away.

Beaming, Yang turned to face Qrow who, looking surprisingly sober, ruffled her hair and grinned.

"Hey kid," he said, sliding into the bench on the opposite side of the table.

Yang joined him, sitting back down. Ruby sat close to her on her left side, practically humming with excitement. Taiyang remained standing, smiling down at his two girls.

Ruby had already started to chatter incessantly in her ear about the things she had missed, but Yang only heard half of it – she felt like she was floating, the world a surreal blur: her family was finally here.

In one sense, Yang deeply regretted the fact that she was home but not home, locked inside the walls of Briarcliff with her father, sister, and her uncle. Underlying her thoughts was this nagging sadness, a cold spot in her chest.

But overriding it all was a feeling that bordered on _relief_. It almost felt like – without realizing it – Yang had been holding her breath, waiting for this moment before coming back to herself, back to her life and the world of the living.

She looked at her father, taking in the way the corners of his eyes crinkled up when he smiled. Those little laugh lines – those little hints of their life before – were things she'd missed without even knowing it.

Yang's attention drifted back to her sister as she sucked in a huge breath and said, "Yang! I almost forgot! We totally tried to bring Zwei, but the guards wouldn't let him in! It was ridiculous, I tried to tell them that he's a trained huntsmen's hound who has fought grimm on the side of good and he is a very well behaved corgi who wouldn't bother anyone and this place could probably use a service dog anyways what with all the gloom and doom-"

Ruby's sentence dissolved into a rapid fire pitter patter of words as Yang shook her head.

 _They_ would _try to bring a dog in here_ , she thought – grinning all the while.

Even though she didn't seem to stop and take a breath – Ruby was somehow still going. Moving on, she had started talking about her plans to join up with the rest of team JNPR:

"…travel to Haven. I'm not really sure how the whole leader thing is going to work out, I'm sure Jaune won't really mind. Nora is super excited though! Not really sure how Ren feels about it all, but then that's normal for him. I'm not too worried about how long it'll take, the walk shouldn't be too bad…"

Yang – along with Taiyang and Qrow – were content to just sit and listen for a few minutes, enjoying the sense of normalcy. But after a while, Taiyang started to chime in with questions about life in the Birdcage.

"Any problems with your cellmate?" he asked, wearing his over-protective dad face and scanning the room as if her cellmate was there and waiting for a serious talking-to.

"No," Yang said, smiling, "Cadeja is great. Not always the easiest person to read, but I'm pretty lucky. It could've been a lot worse."

Not seeming entirely convinced, Taiyang narrowed his eyes and fired one question after another. Some Yang could answer, but most she couldn't – she still didn't really know much about the wolf Faunus. However, after a few anecdotes and shared memories she was able to convince him that things with Cadeja were fine.

As they chatted about her job in the library, the food in the cafe – sticking to light subjects and ducking the more serious questions – Qrow remained mostly silent, occasionally chuckling or nodding along.

After a while, Yang started watching the clock – dreading the end of visiting hours. She tried to stop looking up at it, worried about wasting what little time she had left.

_But now they can come back, whenever they have time. Ruby won't be around, but she'll write – and dad…_

Snapping out of it, Yang tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled, trying to get back into the flow of the conversation.

Qrow caught her eye. Cutting off Taiyang, he said, "How have things really been, Yang? I'll buy the story about your cellmate, but something's off. What's bothering you?"

His voice was calm and even, and his eyes never left Yang's as she struggled to maintain a neutral expression.

"Things are fine, nobody's bothering me," she said, trying to sound stern and resolute.

From what she could tell, he didn't buy it. Taiyang looked at them, his eyes questioning.

"Well something's certainly going on," Qrow said, "No way should it have taken this long for us to get in here to see you. The higher ups are really getting their money's worth out of making an example of you."

"What are you talking about?" she asked. Glancing around, she saw that Ruby was confused but her father was looking away, not making eye contact.

"It's no coincidence you were sent _here_ ," he said, indicating the room with his arms, "and that they've been slow getting your paperwork through the system. Your case was very public Yang – thousands of people saw that video live, never mind what followed after…"

For a moment his voice trailed off, his eyes still studying Yang.

"By punishing you – and making it all a very visible affair – the Council has managed to take back some control in the city of Vale. What happened at Beacon shook their hold on the public, but by picking an enemy they can control – namely, _you_ – and locking her away with the baddest of the bad, the Council looks like they're solving some of the underlying problems in the city."

Yang stared, disbelieving.

_They wouldn't… but…_

Before she could finish her thought, she felt her dad's hand on her shoulder – warm through the fabric of her shirt.

"I think that's enough, Qrow. Let's not dwell on it for today," he said.

Qrow shrugged, leaning back on the bench.

Looking away, Yang's eyes flicked back towards the door. As she looked, the door banged open and a guard escorted an inmate into the room, late for visitation. Yang tensed, trying to look away before Qrow or her dad noticed.

Sasha walked in, hips swaying. She spotted Yang and the corner of her mouth perked up into a lopsided smirk.

_Two whole days and nothing! Of course she'd show up now…_

Something on her face must've given her away, because Qrow turned to look over his shoulder. When he made eye contact with Sasha, her step faltered and her smug smile slipped for a moment before she tossed her hair, looking away. Striding past them, she went to a table in the far corner of the room where two women sat, waiting.

Trying to steer the conversation back to trivial things, Yang turned to Ruby and asked if she'd heard anything from Weiss in Atlas. Seizing the topic, Ruby dove back into her narrative of life back home. Qrow and Taiyang seemed to relax, but occasionally Yang would still catch Qrow studying her when he thought she wasn't looking.

Eventually, one of the guards gave a five minute warning – encouraging families and friends to say goodbye.

Yang and her family rose, standing next to the table in a loose circle. Still chatting, Ruby took Yang's hand in hers, squeezing lightly.

Yang stepped over to her father to hug him goodbye, dragging Ruby with her, but as she reached out toward him an alarm blared to life from the speakers tucked into the walls. Yang froze as a red light bled into the room, bleaching it of all other colors.

A siren wailed and behind the noise of the alarm a vague male voice crackled through the intercom, but it was impossible to make out the words.

The moment the speakers came on and the red light buzzed to life, every CO in the room started shouting. The woman standing nearest to Yang turned and yelled:

"Inmates, hit the floor, now! Step away from the visitors!"

Yang hesitated. Startled by the alarm, her father had pulled her to his side. Ruby still clung to her hand, eyes scanning the room. Of their group, only Qrow looked calm.

All around them, inmates started to put their hands up and sink the floor, lying down face first. Still being held by her family, Yang didn't move – she remained standing.

The female guard caught her eye, and took a step forward.

"Inmate! I said hit the floor! NOW!"

Yang just stared dumbly, first at the guard and then at her father. Not reacting quickly enough, a male CO stepped up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulder. Wrenching her around, he threw her at the floor, his boot landing on the small of her back.

"Yang!" Ruby cried, Qrow restraining her.

Yang winced, her shoulder throbbing where she'd hit the ground. Mixed in with the sound of the siren, she heard Ruby yelling.

"Stop it! Don't hurt her – get your foot off my sister! Yang!"

Yang squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to stay lying on her stomach.

"Get them out!" yelled a guard, waving his hand toward the door.

A mass exodus had already started as scared family members and friends rushed towards the door. Some were slower to move than others, and some – like Yang's family – stood rooted in place. Guards stormed through the room, dragging people with them towards the exit.

"ALL VISITORS OUT NOW!"

Yang could hear a clamor of voices – some demanding to know what was going on, others yelling goodbyes to their loved ones over their shoulders. Somewhere, a child wailed.

Through it all, she could still hear Ruby screaming –

"YANG! YAAAAAAANG!"

Her voice grew distant as she was dragged out of the room. Yang buried her face in her hand.

_Ruby – I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…_

After the guards had managed to clear the visitors out of the room, supposedly marshalling them down the corridor and back the way they'd come, they turned their attention to the inmates. Scattered throughout the room, they all laid down on the floor – most of them protectively covering their heads with their hands.

Somebody barked an order that Yang couldn't hear – and after a moment she felt a rough hand under her arm, lifting her from the floor. Single-file, they were lined up at the door leading back to the main part of the Briarcliff compound.

Once everyone was standing, they were marched back to their cells. Each group that broke off to head to their respective cellblocks was escorted by COs with their weapons drawn. One of them – a young, scrawny kid with short red hair – was shaking, his eyes casting down the hallway as if looking for invisible threats.

Everywhere they went, the alarms continued to blare and lights flashed, making it hard to judge distances amidst the dance of fuzzy, whirling red and black shadows.

When she was finally shoved back into her cell, Yang found that Cadeja was already there. They must have removed everyone from their work duties just as quickly as they'd cleared out the visitors' center because the laundry room where Cadeja worked was nearly as far away from D block.

Shouting to be heard over the alarms, Yang asked, "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Cadeja nodded.

"Yeah, I heard some guards yelling about it," she answered. "There was a fight in the Yard – sounds like it was some of Sasha's crew against a group of Faunus. No idea who started it."

Even as Cadeja was still shouting, the alarm suddenly cut out and the yellow fluorescents glimmered back to life. The sudden silence shocked Yang's senses – leaving a distinct ringing in her ears.

Cadeja grunted, twitching the ears on top of her head.

"Sounds like whatever it was it's been broken up now," she said.

Wiggling a finger in her ear and working her jaw, Yang fidgeted until she heard a _pop_ and her hearing seemed to normalize.

"Was it any of Leonie's girls?" she asked.

"No, and I don't much like the idea of asking her about it. That old mountain cat and I are both veterans of the Birdcage, and we've come to an understanding."

"Let me guess, 'You don't fuck with her and she don't fuck with you?'" said Yang, doing a poor imitation of Cadeja's accent.

Cadeja laughed, grinning from ear to ear.

"You're catching on, Xiao Long."

"How dangerous is she, exactly? Is she White Fang?"

Cadeja paused, catching Yang's eye with a serious look.

"In here, you never really know who is who – but I do know this: Leonie is _not_ White Fang," Cadeja growled.

Yang was startled – unable to figure out why Cadeja sounded quite so… angry. She could've been defending Leonie, but Yang didn't quite think that was it.

"That being said, never assume anyone isn't dangerous because they're not part of the Fang. There's more than one group looking to get even with humans out there, ave rota."

Yang nodded, knowing better than to brush off her warning.

Leaning back into her bed, Cadeja relaxed.

"Might as well get some rest, rubia, it's gonna be a while," she said, closing her eyes.

Nodding, Yang scrambled up into her bed. Lying on her side, she reached under her pillow and let her hand rest on that first letter she'd received from Taiyang. She didn't pull it out to read it – she didn't need to at this point –she just let her hand rest there as she drifted off.

* * *

The next day they woke up to the _wonderful_ news that – thanks to the incident in the Yard – all the residents of the Wilds had lost rec privileges for a week.

What that meant for Yang was extra work duty in the library – and more time spent ducking Darrah. The bespectacled librarian's grudge against Yang hadn't waned over time – if anything, it had grown sharper and more derisive.

The day after her family had visited, Yang found herself squirreled away in the stacks – sitting at a table covered in books with yellowed pages and worn-out spines. Bored, she dozed slightly, her head drooping down to her chest and then snapping up every few minutes – shocked awake as she nearly fell out of her chair.

In one of those more conscious moments, she heard the door to the library slam open. In the distance she heard a gruff voice, followed by Darrah's. Listening intently, Yang caught the _click clack_ of hobnail boots striding across the linoleum in her direction.

After a moment, CO Kowalski popped into view around one of the bookshelves. Yang couldn't help but recognize him and his bushy but highly groomed mutton chop sideburns.

"Xiao Long?" he grunted.

She nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Get up – you got an appointment with your counselor."

As she stood up, his eyes drifted to her right arm and his face registered with recognition. She shuffled away from the table, turning to the side so he was on her left – shielding her right arm from view.

His broad hand wrapped around her bicep, displaying finger nails cut meticulously short. Everything about him – from his pin-straight uniform to his perfectly shaped sideburns and well-cared for nails – suggested a methodical nature. The only flaw was the yellow-gray color of his teeth, looking as if he'd smoked too many cigarettes.

Leading her out of the library, the pressure on her arm didn't lessen, if anything he seemed to grip her more tightly. The guards they passed looked on-edge, hands hovering by nightsticks and tasers, eyes warily roving over every inch of the halls.

As they headed away from the center of the compound, they had to cross through more and more security gates – pausing at each one as Kowalski flashed his credentials to buzz them through.

Sneaking glances, Yang tried to figure out why Cadeja hated Kowalski more so than any other CO. She even seemed to fear him, if that was at all possible. The wolf Faunus didn't seem fazed by much – at least, not on the outside.

Sure, the guy was rough – and he never hesitated to bark out insults and swear at the inmates, but that was common enough amongst the guards, especially the ones who'd been around for a while.

The only thing she found unsettling about the man was the way he stared at her ruined arm each time he saw her – something in his gaze making her want to squirm out of her own skin.

Yang continued to mull it over as they walked. Eventually, she recognized the long hallway of doors where the counselor's office was located.

Allowing herself to be steered towards one of the doors on the left, Yang ambled down the hallway with Kowalski's vise-like grip still wrapped around her arm. Her fingertips had gone numb, starting to buzz with pins and needles.

But as they approached the door, it opened from within and out walked the small-framed form of Roxie, Sasha's little shadow. As she came out of the room, her eyes met Yang's and she tossed the ice-blonde sheet of her hair over her shoulder.

Grinning, she walked away wordlessly – escorted by a female CO down the hall in the direction from which Yang had just come. Watching her go, Yang saw Roxie cast one last look at her – still smiling, her mouth slightly parted and flashing brilliant white teeth.

Still looking at Roxie's retreating figure, Yang's head snapped back around as Kowalski jerked her into the counselor's office. Rather than follow her into the room, Kowalski stayed outside and slammed the door behind her – leaving Yang to walk over to one of the chairs opposite Adrienne's desk.

As Yang crossed the room and plopped down in one of the chairs, she noticed the counselor eyeing the closed door, frowning. It was another moment before she even seemed to realize Yang was seated in front of her.

The tense line of her mouth relaxed and a small smile – presumably supposed to seem welcoming – slid over her features. Yang suppressed a shudder, noting the eerie similarities between the gesture and what Roxie had just done, walking past her in the hallway.

"Ms. Xiao Long," she said, folding her hands in her lap, "I'm sorry it's been so long since we've had the chance to talk. I had scheduled a one month check-in appointment for you a few days ago, but thanks to recent events, my schedule's been a little backed-up."

 _Not surprising_ , thought Yang. _A bunch of women are still panicked after the lockdown, and now the Faunus and the humans are getting into fights in the Yard…_

Tucking a few loose light brown strands of hair behind her ear, Adrienne continued.

"It's usually my practice to meet with inmates after they've been here for a full month. Many girls still aren't quite… settled in by then, especially the younger ones and first-time offenders. Your first month here has been particularly eventful, what with your little _accident_ – falling out of bed was it? – and then the lockdown, of course," she said, watching Yang's reactions as she spoke.

She sighed, raising her clasped hands to rest on the desk.

"Where to begin?" she mused, more to herself than to Yang. "I often ask to know how things are going with your cellmate, but in your case, I believe I'd already have a fairly good idea. Miss Álvarez is no stranger to Briarcliff, but as far as frequent fliers go – she's rather… tame," she said, smiling to herself as if enjoying some private joke.

"So no problems there?" she asked, looking to Yang for confirmation.

Slightly put off, Yang simply shook her head.

"Good, good," said Adrienne. "And no further accidents in your bunk? I don't see any new bruises…"

Again, Yang shook her head.

"No, no new incidents ma'am."

"Nothing in particular that you'd like to report?"

Yang gritted her teeth.

_Yeah actually – Sasha beat the ever-loving crap out of me and has been on my case since I got here. Let me just tell you all about it – oh, you know Sasha, don't you? She's BFFs with that chick who just left your office smiling like a damned idiot…_

"No, ma'am, nothing."

Adrienne frowned.

"Well then," she said, her voice clipped, "let's move on. I've been checking in with each of the girls assigned to me about their experiences during and after the lockdown. These events can be incredibly stressful, especially if you've never been through one before. Do you find yourself troubled by any of the procedures? Any anxieties, bad dreams – things like that that you've noticed recently?"

"I'm sorry ma'am," said Yang, her eyes defiant, "but these 'stressful events' don't affect me as much as they do some of the others. I was a huntress-in-training, I've seen much worse than a few flashing lights and blaring sirens."

"Of course," she said, unflinchingly returning Yang's gaze.

"What about those around you? Are there any individuals whom you think would benefit from my help? There have been instances when I couldn't see whether a girl needed help or not, only to find out too late."

Something about Adrienne's face shifted when she spoke – the skin around her eyes tightened and the frown lines along her brow deepened. From what Yang could tell, she was being sincere.

"I tend to keep to myself, ma'am, so I can't really help."

"I'm sure you do…"

She paused, and a moment of uninterrupted silence settled between them. Adrienne's gaze had drifted – again eying the door behind Yang.

Still looking away, she eventually said, "I'm glad your family finally had a chance to visit. How are you doing in the wake of all that? It can be tough, both to have them come to a place like this, and to watch them leave – even when it's not in the midst of a crisis like we had yesterday in the Yard."

Yang considered her words carefully, feeling that some honesty on this subject wouldn't be particularly dangerous.

"It was… tough. After so many weeks, some things have started to feel _normal_ , but seeing them broke that illusion for me. I knew it would. But it was worth it – to see them, to have that piece of home. I only wish my sister hadn't seen what happened with the guards."

Adrienne's lips briefly flicked up into a small smile, a hint of early crow's feet crinkling at the edges of her eyes. Yang watched her carefully, wondering if she'd said too much, and hoping that by finally saying more than "yes ma'am, no ma'am," she'd placated Adrienne's curiosity for the day.

Perhaps because Yang's ploy had worked, or perhaps because she'd simply asked all of the questions she'd intended too – Adrienne drew the appointment to a close.

"Thank you for sharing that, Miss Xiao Long. As I said before, I don't expect you to trust me right now, but I do hope that in time you'll find it easier to talk to me. I can be an important resource for you in a place like this, where you won't find many friendly faces. Please, feel free to request an appointment anytime you need to talk."

Yang nodded and mumbled something to the effect of "I'll remember that."

"If that's all, you can go for today. I'll see you again in a month, unless you wish to see me sooner. An officer should be waiting outside to take you back."

With that, Yang was dismissed. She pushed herself out of her chair with her left arm and crossed back over to the door.

As she pulled the door open, she thought she heard Adrienne draw in a breath – as if to say something else – but when she remained silent, Yang stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Kowalski had disappeared, replaced by another guard. Seeing Yang, he grabbed her arm and guided her back towards cellblock D. As they walked away, she saw yet another girl being led to Adrienne's office, the next of many she assumed.

Remembering her surprise at seeing Roxie just as she had arrived, Yang shook her head.

_Maybe it really was just a coincidence. It seems like all of D block is being processed through here, either with Adrienne or with whatever other counselors Briarcliff employs._

But then she remembered the girl's manic smile.

_Then again, maybe it wasn't._


	8. Into the Wilds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new crop of inmates arrives at the Birdcage, and among them is a familiar face for one of our characters. Human vs. Faunus tensions continue to rise, coming to a head at a rare event: Movie night in the rec center.

Behind Bars

Part Eight: Into the Wilds

* * *

"Ay carajo this food sucks!" complained Cadeja, letting greyish gruel slop off of her spoon. It landed with a wet _thud_ as it slapped back into the pinkish plastic bowl.

"Look on the bright side – D block gets its rec privileges back tomorrow," chimed in Yang. It had been six days since the fight in the Yard, so the one week suspension of their rec time was almost up. "The extra work duty will be over and we'll get a chance to stretch our legs again!"

Cadeja grunted, still playing with her food.

"That's not gonna make this shit any more edible," she muttered. "And not all of us work with bitches like Darrah," she said, winking at Yang.

Grumbling, Yang flicked a suspiciously brown piece of corn at Cadeja. It missed its intended target, and instead of hitting the wolf Faunus it landed with an almost inaudible _plop_ in Cadeja's gruel.

Smiling, Yang said, "Hey, maybe that'll help."

Cadeja frowned, clearly not amused. Blowing a strand of white hair out of her face, Cadeja shoved the tray away from her across the table.

"Cada día, siempre el mismo," she muttered under her breath.

Screwing up her courage, Yang replied – using some of her newly-learned phrases.

"No te preocupes. Todo está bien," she said with a smile, proud of herself for remembering.

After nearly a week without rec privileges, Yang had had plenty of time to practice with Cadeja.

Cadeja grinned in spite of her bad mood.

"Muy bien hecho," she replied, complimenting her pupil.

"Muchas gracias, amiga," said Yang. She wanted to say more, but at this point she had almost exhausted what she remembered of the niceties Cadeja had taught her.

Cadeja chuckled, ears twitching as she listened to Yang's broken speech.

"You know, ave rota, we gotta work on your accent," she said, still laughing lightly.

Yang frowned.

"I thought I said it okay…"

Cadeja stopped laughing and gave Yang an encouraging smile.

Yang mumbled something under her breath, looking rather dejected. It sounded like "…this language is too confusing…"

Cadeja's ears were sharp enough to pick up the comment, and she shook her head – still grinning.

"Es fácil – it's less complicated that this silly tongue. And besides, you're doing well." As she spoke, Cadeja's hand reached out and covered Yang's, patting it gently. "Don't lose hope, Xiao Long – you'll get it."

"Well I've certainly got the time to work on it," said Yang, still glum.

Ignoring the self-pity in her remark, Cadeja said, "Not right now you don't. Es la hora." With her chin, she indicated the clock on the wall above them.

Looking up, Yang saw that lunch was ending. Standing up from the table, the two of them collected their trays and dumped them by the trash cans before queuing up at the cafeteria's main exit.

Two COs stood there waiting to escort the inmates back to D block. Yang recognized CO Lowell and fumbled for the other one's name, eventually remembering that it was Reilly – the guy with the sweaty palms who'd taken her to her first meeting with Adrienne.

Everyone all lined up, the two COs led the D block inmates out of the cafe. Looking straight ahead, Yang walked side by side with Cadeja in the middle of the procession. Ahead of them, she couldn't really make out who was who from behind, but as usual Leonie Verté stood out amongst the crowd, standing a full foot taller than most of the girls around her.

Looking around, Yang tried to see if Judith was by her sister's side, but either she wasn't tall enough to be seen or she wasn't around because the mountain cat Faunus appeared to be alone.

As they wended through the hallways that crisscrossed through the center of the Briarcliff compound, a new sound drifted down towards their group from up ahead. A babble of low voices filled the halls as they neared an area largely occupied by administrative offices.

Peering through the crowd, Yang saw about two dozen newly arrived inmates – she could tell they were new to the Birdcage because they wore navy travel scrubs rather than the regulation tan clothes they were assigned once they'd been bunked.

Some of them looked like veterans of the system – cockily glaring at the D block inmates as they passed – while others seemed like first-timers, nervously staring at their feet and avoiding eye contact. Some of them seemed incredibly young – perhaps even younger than Yang.

From what Yang could tell, a CO standing in front of the group was barking out cellblock assignments, dividing the group into sections that would eventually end up in A, B, C, and D blocks.

She heard him call out several names, pausing and pointing to indicate which block they'd join.

"O'Malley! Salazar!" he yelled, waving two girls over towards a group headed for C block.

The line of girls marching back from the cafeteria started to get mixed up with the groups as they passed them, crossing towards an adjacent hallway.

CO Lowell and Reilly struggled to clear a path as the inmates behind them started to stop and check out the new arrivals.

"This way! Inmates of Cellblock D – follow your COs back to bunks!" yelled Lowell, waving her short arms above her head.

Yang felt girls pushing her from behind as she edged forward through the crowd. All the while, the male CO with the new girls kept calling out names.

"Brown, Hanley, Feldman!"

Yang was crushed against Cadeja's side, and she felt an elbow being driven into her back. They shuffled forward, trying to gain momentum and squeeze their way through the mass of crowded girls.

"Álvarez!"

At the sound of her name, Yang felt Cadeja freeze beside her, nearly causing the girls behind them to topple over them. A stocky girl with bright red hair tried to shove Cadeja forward, but she wouldn't budge.

Yang struggled to stay beside her, trying to find out why her friend had stopped.

Cadeja looked around, wolf ears swiveling on top of her head. She scanned the crowd looking confused. Her eyebrows knitted together, creasing her brow with deep frown lines.

The room was a mix of clashing limbs and grunting bodies as girls tried to force their way past one another. The guard organizing new arrivals must have been swallowed up in the confusion, because he yelled again.

"Álvarez! Join the group for A block now!"

Yang saw Cadeja's eyes narrow and her ears flatten back against her head as her gaze settled on one of the girls in navy. Her mouth was parted open, but for a moment she said nothing.

Yang stared, trying to figure out what was going on. The girl was small, and young enough to be Ruby's age. She had the same white-grey hair as Cadeja, and two tufted wolf ears standing up on her head. Her skin was a deep olive tone, also like Cadeja's, but her eyes were an arctic blue – startlingly bright against her skin.

She seemed to shrink away from everyone around her, looking uncertain and afraid. Her hair bristled and stood up in tufts, a wildly tangled mess. Dark bags under her eyes made Yang think she hadn't slept in days.

As she watched, an inmate from D block crashed into the girl, knocking her aside.

Beside her, Yang heard Cadeja suck in a breath.

"Raya! Raya!" she yelled, practically screaming.

The girl's ears perked up and she turned to face Yang and Cadeja.

"Raya!" Cadeja continued to call her name, even as the flow of girls behind them started to force them forward into the next hallway. Twisting around, Cadeja fought to slow their pace.

"Raya! Qué hiciste, Raya? Qué hiciste – no debes estar aquí! Qué te dije – recuerdes Raya? Qué te dije?!"

Cadeja's voice ripped through several octaves as she screamed, her fangs flashing as she snarled at the girls directly behind her.

D block inmates continued to swarm around them, pushing them away from the group of new arrivals that remained in the intersection of the hallways. From behind them, Yang saw one of the COs walk up to Cadeja. Reilly clamped his hand down on her arm and started to pull her away.

Fighting for more time, Cadeja resisted Reilly and tried to shake him off. In response he pulled harder, engendering a feral growl from Cadeja as she flipped around to face him. Refusing to let go, Reilly continued to pull her along the hallway.

"Let's go inmate! Back to bunks now or you're getting written up!"

Ignoring him, Cadeja kept yelling over her shoulder.

"RAYA! Qué hiciste, _tonta_? Me prometiste! Me prometiste que no te involucrarías!"

At this point, Yang couldn't see the girl anymore – the mass of inmates between them was too thick. Eventually, the force of the crowd's momentum and the pull of Reilly's hand overwhelmed Cadeja, and she was led away down the next hallway – still yelling Raya's name as she moved farther and farther away.

Once they'd walked a ways down the hall, Yang tried to put her hand comfortingly on Cadeja's back, but the wolf Faunus growled at her touch and Yang quickly drew back, startled by the ferocity of the woman's response.

As far as she could within the confines of the crowded hallway, Yang tried to give her cellmate some space. Peeking up at Cadeja through the curtain of her hair, Yang saw that the muscles in the Faunus's neck and jaw were tense and tightly contracted, refusing to relax.

The other girls in line picked up on the strangled fury radiating from Cadeja and they backed off as well, creating a small radius of space around her. Alone in her own world, Cadeja gritted her teeth and stared angrily at the floor as she stomped back towards the Wilds.

Still trailing behind her and leaving several feet of space between them, Yang eventually followed Cadeja into their cell. She listened to the clank of metal as the cell doors in D block all slid shut, still warily eyeing her cellmate.

Cadeja was pacing back and forth in the small space between their bunks and the concrete wall. Her arms were crossed over her chest tightly, and she seemed to be muttering something to herself under her breath.

Every once in a while, Yang would catch a word or two, but she understood little of what Cadeja said.

"…tan _tonta_! Todavía… es una niña! No puedo creerlo… idiota joven! No tiene razón… qué _hiciste_ , Raya? No entiendo nada… hermanita mía, qué hiciste pa' que llegaras aquí…"

Still unsure of what to do, Yang dithered by the cell door. Unruffled by the skirmish in the hall, Yang tried to smooth out her shirt and fix her right sleeve – it had been knotted around the end of her upper arm, but the twisted fabric had come undone in the crush of inmates.

After a moment of fidgeting with the sleeve, she gave up – too frustrated to fix it. Cheeks flushed, she pulled the shirt off over her head and flung it onto her bunk, standing in her cell in just her white tank top.

Meanwhile, Cadeja still paced. With every pass, she looked like she came closer and closer to punching the wall with one of her balled up fists. Muscles tense, she was practically shaking from head to toe. Her anger was obvious, but to Yang it seemed like there was something else adding to Cadeja's rapidly darkening mood.

Yang stood there studying her for nearly half an hour, and still Cadeja continued to pace back and forth. Giving up, Yang clambered up into her bed, and decided to wait it out. She sat with her back against the wall, watching Cadeja practically plow a track into the floor.

After a while, the motion started to have a hypnotic effect on Yang, causing her to doze. Every once in a while, her head would slouch down to her chest, eyes closing. Belatedly she'd remember to look up, still worried about her cellmate, before starting to fall back asleep.

Suddenly, Cadeja yelled and startled Yang awake – causing her to jolt upright in her bed. Looking down, Yang saw that Cadeja had finally stopped pacing and was instead staring down at the floor, head in her hands.

Tentatively, Yang said, "Cadeja, what's going? Who was that girl?"

Her back to Yang, Cadeja remained silent for a moment before answering.

"She's blood. Ella es mi hermana – my little sister, Raya…"

Yang had suspected as much – not only did they have the same last name, but the physical resemblance was striking. Raya was a blue-eyed, younger version of Cadeja – although much less physically imposing than her elder sister.

Briefly, Yang felt the urge to reach out and take Cadeja's hand, wondering how she would feel if Ruby was in Raya's position. Forcefully, she quashed the urge, remembering Cadeja's violent reaction to her previous contact.

Struggling for something to say, Yang finally remarked, "At least she's not in D block where Sasha or Leonie can get to her too easily."

Cadeja grunted, acknowledging Yang, but she still stayed tensely locked in her stance, facing the wall.

Curiosity was starting to get the better of Yang, and so she asked, "How old is she? She looks so young…"

Cadeja turned her head slightly, not quite meeting Yang's eye.

"She would've just turned fifteen. I haven't seen her in almost two years… what she's even doing Vale…"

Cadeja paused, dark green eyes shimmering.

"D block or no, she's not safe here. Ella es la más joven de nuestra tribu. She's the youngest of us, and she's never had to deal with these kinds of people before. I've spent my life making sure of it, I don't know what went wrong… she'd promised not to…"

Looking back down at the floor, Cadeja's shoulders seemed to shake, and she hugged herself tightly.

"Last I spoke to her, she barely even knew this language – el castellano was all she knew, she'd hardly met anyone outside the tribe, save a few traders who ventured north into Mantle. How she's goin' to get by in here, I've no idea…"

"You'll help her, and even though it's not much – I will too, promise," said Yang, smiling.

Turning around to face the bunks, Cadeja's lips flickered up with a hint of a smile. Seeing Yang's goofy grin, she rolled her eyes and slipped into her own bunk, disappearing below.

After a moment's pause, Yang heard Cadeja's voice whisper up from underneath her.

"Thanks, ave rota."

Yang waited to see if she would say anything else, watching the clock. They still had some time left before they'd get dragged off to their respective work duties, and Yang wanted to do what she could to lift Cadeja's mood before then.

 _It certainly wouldn't be a good thing if she went out of here volatile, if someone in the laundry room pisses her off, she's liable to start a fight, and then she'll end up like those girls in the Yard…_ Yang thought to herself, worrying.

Lost in thought, Yang almost missed it when Cadeja finally started to speak again.

"I'm just worried about what'll happen between now and when I'll finally get a chance to talk to her; A and D blocks don't mix much," she muttered.

Yang grimaced. D block – being the housing unit dedicated to aura wielders and violent offenders – was socialized with the other cellblocks less than others. Occasionally, they'd have the same lunch hour or rec time as other units, but it wasn't a frequent or reliable pairing.

Some weeks they'd only see B block, others it'd be both A and C blocks or something along those lines. It was kept randomized so as to prevent planned attacks against other inmates or "premeditated incidents" as COs called it. They could go whole weeks without seeing girls from a certain cellblock.

Trying to sound hopeful, Yang said, "You never know – maybe you'll get your chance sooner than you'd think."

There was a pause in which Cadeja might have nodded, and then Yang thought she heard her say something.

"Maybe – we'll see. Que será, será."

* * *

Little did they know – Yang was right. Cadeja's chance would come sooner than she thought.

After a few weeks of administrative grumbling and a postponement period due to the fighting in the Yard, the Warden's assistant announced that they would be "enforcing" a movie night, despite the COs' collective complaints.

Yang had overheard some of the guards talking about it in the Yard on her second day back to rec privileges.

"This is the stupidest idea I think those dumbasses in Federal have ever come up with!" complained a female guard, her hair cut into a short bob that shook emphatically every time she spoke.

"I don't know, they must have a good reason for it," mumbled CO Lowell, the only one of the guards who even looked like they were paying attention to the inmates in the Yard.

"No way – it's all just administrative bull shit!" scoffed a tall male guard with a pot belly. He had bushy gray eyebrows that nearly swallowed up the top half of his face.

"What do you mean?" asked Lowell, her eyes still scanning the Yard.

"It's an 'Atlas-funded charity program' for the inmates! You know what that means?" he asked, pausing. Not receiving a reply, he said, "It _means_ that some Atlesian muckity muck paid this shithole charity money to make him feel better about himself and his swanky mansion, and if they don't do what he says the Warden's office is gonna be in the shitter with the Council."

"Sounds about right," said the short-haired female guard, grumbling. "Nobody gives a damn if we break our necks trying to keep these girls off each other – I mean, c'mon, mixing the population at a time like this! It's freaking suicide."

Yang thought the guard was right, but she was relieved to have good news for Cadeja. Rushing back to where she'd left the wolf Faunus under the great oak tree in the center of the Yard, she'd told her everything she'd overheard.

So just a few nights after Raya had arrived in the Birdcage, all the inmates from A through D blocks with clean records for the past three months were allowed to attend movie night.

This would have excluded the girls who'd been involved in the fight, but as it was no one had seen them yet – presumably, they were still locked up away from the rest of the inmates.

On the night of the event, all of the girls who wanted to attend were led to Briarcliff's 'Rec Center.' The Center was a large indoor space – rivalled only by the cafeteria in terms of size – that served as a multi-functional facility.

It was often reserved for various programs – yoga sessions, job training classes, basket weaving – a general variety of banal and vaguely educational drabble. It also doubled as a chapel for the religious or spiritual portion of the Birdcage's population.

To date, Yang had only been here once before, for a board game afternoon hosted for new arrivals. She'd lost three straight games of checkers to a curiously silent but studious Faunus named Lyra. Besides Leonie, Lyra had perhaps been the oldest woman Yang had seen amongst the inmates – somewhere in her mid to late thirties.

Shuffling down the hallway amidst the crowd of D block inmates, Yang tried to remember more about the rec room, but found it was a hazy recollection at best. Her first few days at Briarcliff were mostly a blur of sounds and sights all at war – demanding her attention as she tried to memorize everything important.

Looking up as they were led into the Rec Center by a full complement of COs, Yang dimly recognized the high-ceilinged room. Underneath her feet the floor gradually slanted down towards a stage at the far end of the room. The majority of the slant was covered in neatly organized rows of dented metal folding chairs, leaving standing room along the walls and in the back towards the entrance.

Up on the stage, a large black screen dangled down from the ceiling, opposite a mounted projector whose blue light weakly illuminated falling motes of dust.

Eyes casting over the room, Yang realized that D block must have been the last group of inmates to arrive at the impromptu movie theater. The room was already fairly crowded – a couple hundred women milled about, standing off to the sides or huddled in small groups amidst the rows of chairs.

Yang felt lost in the crowd, but from the moment they entered Cadeja had started scanning the room, eyes wide and wolf ears swiveling towards every little noise.

There was always a chance that Raya had opted not to come – attendance wasn't mandatory – but that didn't stop Cadeja from yanking Yang across the room by her left arm, intent on her search.

Cadeja led them zig-zagging through the rows of chairs, guided by some sense that Yang couldn't follow. After just a few moments, they ended up down by the stage, heading for a small cluster of girls by the wall.

Eventually, Yang spotted what Cadeja must have noticed well before she had: standing in a small protective circle, Church and Mirra surrounded the huddled form of Raya on either side.

Releasing her grip on Yang's hand, Cadeja cast a grateful look in Church's direction and pulled Raya into her arms. She hugged the smaller girl to her chest, cradling her head in one of her hands. After a moment, she led Raya a few steps away.

Yang could hear the rat-a-tat rapid fire of Cadeja's speech, too fast for her to follow. Raya would occasionally reply, her voice soft and low – barely audible amidst the noise of the crowd.

Throughout, Cadeja's hands never left Raya's shoulders. She tried to catch Raya's eye, but for the most part the girl stared at the floor as she mumbled her responses. While she watched them, Yang inched towards Church.

"Did you know Raya before? Cadeja had never mentioned a sister," she said, eyes never leaving the two girls.

"No, we'd never met – but Cadeja has a large family. I've crossed paths with some of her other sisters before," replied Church, her face assuming its customary glazed-over look.

 _Sisters plural?_ thought Yang, wondering for the thousandth time just how much she knew about her cellmate.

"She's in A block with you guys right?"

For a brief pause, Church didn't answer. Tilting her head slightly, she tuned back into the conversation for a moment, saying, "She's bunked next to Mirra. She'll be looked after."

Yang's eyes flicked up to meet Mirra's for a second, noticing for the first time that the girl had oddly pale gray-green eyes that contrasted beautifully with her dark mahogany skin. Still silent, Mirra simply nodded in affirmation.

By the end of their exchange, Cadeja was leading Raya back over to their small group. Standing before them, her arm stayed draped around her sister's shoulders, refusing to let go.

"Xiao Long – this is Raya," she said, presenting her sister.

Raya blushed and nodded, eyes still trained on the floor.

"Go on, tonta, say hello," encouraged Cadeja, giving Raya a nudge.

Yang was startled when the Raya's bright blue eyes peered up and met her own gaze. Hidden within the small girl was a light that shown through her fear.

"Hello, Yang, it is my pleasure to meet you," she said, pronouncing each word purposefully and heavily trilling the 'r.' Remembering what Cadeja had said about Raya's lack of familiarity with their language, Yang noticed how much thicker her accent was than her elder sister's.

Yang tried to smile reassuringly.

"Hola Raya, mucho gusto," said Yang – hoping her inflection was better than it had been before.

Surprised, Raya's mouth dropped into a little 'o' before she smiled, nodding. Brightening, she said, "Mucho gusto, Yang. Me alegre mucho que has aprendido un poco de nuestra lengua. Cadeja me ha dicho que vamos a ser buenas amigas."

Yang smiled and nodded, understanding for the most part what Raya had said – although at times, she spoke too fast for Yang to follow. In her thick accent, she pronounced the - _ja_ ending of her sister's name emphatically, making a guttural sound in her throat. It was oddly beautiful.

For a moment, Raya beamed up at her sister, and then her smile receded slowly, perhaps remembering where she was.

All the while, Yang sneaked a few glances at Church and Mirra. From what she could tell, they seemed to understand Raya's rapid speech – either that, or they were really good at playing along.

Above them, the lights on the ceiling dimmed and COs started calling for girls to head to their seats. D block was more stringently monitored than the others, and so Cadeja and Yang had assigned seats in the back corner of the room, forcing them to leave Church, Mirra, and Raya behind.

Cadeja pulled Raya into one last embrace before finally releasing her grip on her sister. Yang practically had to lead her away, back to where the COs were waiting for them. As they left, Cadeja kept casting glances over her shoulder as Raya went to go sit with Church and Mirra near the front.

Pulled out of their own little group, Yang realized just how heavy a presence the COs had in the room – their numbers had been bumped up, and she counted several dozen guards around the rows of chairs. Some she recognized – Lowell, Reilly, Kowalski, and the bushy-browed guy from the Yard – but others she didn't.

After a moment, she managed to situate her and Cadeja near the front of the D block section of chairs. Even though they were still several rows back, at least they could see where Raya sat.

Trying to relax and enjoy the first film she'd seen in months, Yang lounged in her metal folding chair, resting her hand in her lap. However, Cadeja remained tense, sitting up straight in her seat – obviously looking at the front rows rather than at the screen where the picture was flickering to life.

Trying to calm her, Yang reached out and took Cadeja's hand. Surprised, the wolf Faunus flinched at the contact, forcing a smile as she looked down at Yang briefly before worriedly returning her gaze to where Raya sat. Somehow in the scuffle for seats, Raya had been separated from Church and Mirra.

Sighing, Yang returned her attention to the screen. The COs had fast-forwarded through the opening credits and accidentally skipped part of the opening scene. They didn't seem to care enough to fix it.

For the first half hour or so, Yang tried to concentrate on the movie – but something about the premise seemed utterly ridiculous. Albeit, it was a musical so some unreality was expected. Still, Yang scrunched up her nose as a young woman posing as a princess sang to the little birds around her and they helped her don a yellow silk dress with a flared hoop skirt.

 _As if_ , thought Yang, rolling her eyes.

Checking on Cadeja, Yang saw that the Faunus was still stock straight in her seat, one white-knuckled hand gripping the side of her chair. Her ears stood alert on top of her head, pointing towards Raya.

Concerned, Yang followed the line of Cadeja's gaze and saw what had her practically jumping up out of her chair.

Backlit from the light of the projector, Yang made out the tell-tale signs of Freya Harrison. Her maimed rabbit ear was outlined in a ghostly blue halo as she leaned over Raya from the row behind. Worriedly looking around for COs, Yang put a restraining hand on Cadeja's leg, holding her in place.

Squinting, Yang saw that Raya was trying to shrink away from Freya's unwanted attention. Tightening her grip on Cadeja, Yang realized that the wolf Faunus with her superior eyesight would have been able to see everything Freya was doing in the dark.

From what Yang could tell, it looked like the strange rabbit Faunus was leaning over Raya from behind, hovering close to her face. Without getting up and making a scene, Raya had nowhere to go.

Yang saw a blue-lit arm snake up over Raya's shoulder, reaching down towards her exposed chest. Yang winced, remembering her own encounter with Freya's unwanted touch in the cafeteria.

Several inmates around them glared as Cadeja emitted a low growl. Yang could feel her practically shaking under her hand.

Freya's face seemed to inch closer and closer to Raya's. Yang could imagine the girl's wide-eyed, unblinking stare.

Her broken ear twitched as Raya gasped, trying to bat away the rabbit girl's hand. Freya squealed in protest and seemed to grab onto Raya from behind.

Distracted by the commotion down front, Yang missed it as Cadeja jumped to her feet.

Ignoring the movie, she roared and started climbing over girls in the seats in front of her.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER YOU LITTLE FUCKBUNNY!"

Girls cried out in protest as Cadeja clawed her way past them, hurtling through the rows of metal seats. Yang stood by helplessly for a moment before she started to edge her way out of their row of chairs and trail Cadeja down the aisle.

Too slow to catch her, Yang watched as Cadeja reached Freya, grabbing her one un-bent ear and yanking her head away from Raya. Freya hissed and clawed at the hand on her ear.

From the other side of the room, Yang noticed the Verté sisters marching towards the struggling duo. Judith got there first and pulled Cadeja away from Freya, shouting something in her ear.

 _Oh please let her break this up before it becomes a real fight!_ thought Yang, desperately.

Still making her way towards Cadeja, Yang was caught up in a pack of girls who stood cheering on the fight – not caring about the consequences.

She heard Cadeja snarl, still fighting to keep her hold on Freya.

"HEY!" boomed a CO's voice.

_Dammit!_

Yang fought harder to break through the growing crowd –

"Cadeja!" yelled Leonie, her commanding voice cutting through the noise. Immediately, Cadeja released her grip on Freya and Judith was able to pull her away just as two male COs – Kowalski and bushy-brows – arrived up front, ready to restrain her by force if necessary.

Disappointed, some of the girls around Yang sat back down – allowing her to get through and make her way up to the front. Briefly, Yang noticed that Raya had somehow found Church in the fracas and was standing with tears in her eyes, watching her big sister.

Breathing heavily, Cadeja shouted something to Raya – presumably checking to make sure she was okay. Raya started to reply, but her voice was lost in the crowd.

Yang stiffened as someone leaned on her shoulder like an armrest.

"Feeling left out little Yang?" cooed Sasha's voice from beside her.

Looking up, Yang glared at Sasha and shook her elbow off of her shoulder.

She smirked. "Doesn't matter – can't understand a word they're saying any ways. Or do we speak dog nowadays?" she said, taunting Yang with a toothy grin.

Not bothering to respond, Yang stomped away and tried to break through the ring of COs that had formed around the front of the room.

She could feel Sasha trailing behind her, vying for a closer look.

Trying to peer through the crowded mass of bodies in blue uniforms, Yang noticed that Judith had loosened her grip on Cadeja, who seemed to have gotten herself back under control – save for the snarl that flashed across her face every time she noticed Freya quivering a few feet away.

Church was trying to lead Raya away, but the ring of COs actually prevented her from making any headway. Nervously, Freya tried to follow them – if only to get away from Cadeja – but as she tried to push past Mirra, she seemed to trip over something and stumble into Raya, colliding with her from behind.

The contact was enough to set Cadeja off again – Judith and Leonie didn't have time to react. Roaring something incomprehensible she launched herself at Freya, clawing her arms in an attempt to pull her away.

Startled, Freya made no effort to defend herself and ultimately fell under Cadeja's weight. The two disappeared in a tangle of bodies on the floor.

Yang shoved at the COs in front of her, trying to push her way past. One of them grunted, annoyed, and elbowed her in the face. Eyes watering, Yang cupped a hand over her nose, still trying to see what was going on.

Somewhere in her peripheral vision, she saw Sasha exchange a look with Roxie, who seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

_Did she just make it out of the circle?_

Before she could puzzle it out, Yang's attention snapped back as she heard Cadeja scream. CO Kowalski was dragging her up by her hair, his fingers locked around a fistful of white.

Her ears flattened back against her head and she snarled, eyes closing against the pain. Another CO – trying to help – inadvertently bumped into them and temporarily loosened Kowalski's grip.

Trying to slip out of range, Cadeja stepped back but Kowalski blindly batted at her with two heavy fists. Cadeja hissed and blocked one hand, and viciously bit into the other – letting her elongated fangs sink into his skin.

Kowalski howled and tried to shake her off, ripping away chunks of his own skin in the process. With a final yank, he managed to pull his hand out of her mouth, her teeth leaving long tracks of red across his skin.

Stumbling back, Cadeja spat out the blood in her mouth and wiped at her lips with the back of her wrist. Spitting again, she shook her head, disgust written all over her face.

"You little bitch!" roared Kowalski, cradling his injured hand.

Still wiping at her mouth, Cadeja yelled something that Yang couldn't quite make out. Part of what Yang could hear sounded like, "You still taste as bad as you look, _verga_."

Two COs appeared behind Cadeja, grabbing her from either side. Wrenching her arms behind her as she growled in protest, baring her bloodied fangs, they slipped zip ties around her wrists and bound her hands behind her back.

Finally the mass of COs managed to make some room, parting the crowd of inmates as Cadeja was marched out of the Rec Center. Some girls jeered and booed as they passed, but Yang was too busy trying to catch Cadeja's eye.

She was unable to so much as exchange a few words with her cellmate as she was ferried from the room – she simply stood by, her one hand twitching uselessly by her side.

Sasha leaned over her shoulder, grinning.

"Bye, bye, puta," she purred, wrapping an arm around Yang's shoulders.

Too numb to react to Sasha's touch, Yang asked, "Where are they taking her?"

"Securing Housing Unit – the SHU – the big house – the playroom for naughty wolf bitches," she answered, smile widening.

Yang looked at her, irritation flashing in her eyes.

Sasha sighed.

"Solitary, Yang – they're taking your little guard dog to solitary confinement."

Flinching away from Sasha's hot breath on her neck, Yang tried to see where Cadeja had gone – but she had disappeared from sight.

Looking back along the path cleared by the COs, all Yang could see was Raya. The girl had taken a few steps after her sister, leaving Church and Mirra behind to deal with a mewling, bleary-eyed Freya.

Raya's bright blue eyes shimmered as the dim light from the forgotten projector hit them. Tears leaked down over her cheeks – one hand raised in the direction her sister had vanished.

Looking completely and utterly broken, Yang watched as Raya sank to her knees, collapsing in a puddle of bent limbs on the floor.

Tearing herself away, Yang shook off Sasha and inched her way through the crowd towards Raya. Kneeling, she held the girl to her chest, looking back towards the room's exit.

 _Cadeja…_ she thought, gnawing at her lower lip.

_What have you done?_


	9. A Jackie London Odyssey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Days crawl by as Yang waits for Cadeja to be released from solitary confinement, but when the wolf Faunus finally does return Yang isn't prepared for what happens next.

Behind Bars

Part Nine: A Jackie London Odyssey

* * *

The metallic clanking roared inside Yang's head, her ears ringing. The cell door ratcheted and coughed along its rusted track – _click, click, clang_. A distant mechanism buzzed, the bars slammed into place, and the door banged shut – sealing Yang in, alone.

Numbly, Yang stood at the door to her cell, staring out through the bars. Unseeing, she replayed the scene in the Rec Center over and over.

Vaguely, she remembered being pulled away from Raya and marched back to D block amidst a roiling mass of inmates. Guards yelled – worried about more fights breaking out. Yang hoped Church or Mirra had found Raya, but she couldn't see through the crowd.

Mostly, she saw Cadeja's face in her mind – Kowalski's blood dripping from her fangs, her body arched defensively in front of Raya, a low growl ripping up her throat.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, staring sightlessly out into D block, but Yang snapped out of her memories when the lights shut off for the night. In the sudden darkness, Yang shifted her weight, her muscles stiff from standing still. Turning away from the bars, she stumbled over to the bunks.

Half-blind, she felt for the edge of the beds and climbed up into her bunk. Falling heavily onto her mattress, Yang stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, unmoving.

Shivering, she eventually sat up and grabbed a gray crewneck sweatshirt she kept folded up by the foot of her bed. She pulled it over her head and slid her arms into the sleeves, leaving the right one untied – too exhausted to care.

Slumping back down onto her bed, Yang curled up on her side and hugged her pillow to her chest. She listened to the slowly fading noises of the women around her settling in for the night. A few muttered conversations died out, leaving the Wilds empty of sound, save for the occasional cough or the squeal of aging mattress coils.

At some point, Yang drifted off to sleep – for once, blessedly free from dreams. Later, when she woke, she was tangled up in her cream-colored sheets – her wool blanket kicked to end of the bed.

Looking around, she waited for her eyes to adjust. Tossing her hair and tucking it behind her left ear, she listened to the sound that had woken her.

The soft, high voice of the lark drifted down to her from one of the floors above. The slow notes of a lullaby hummed through D block. Yang listened, not recognizing the words. Frowning, she concentrated.

Singing more softly than usual, the echoes of the lark's song were fuzzy and indistinct – buzzing down in broken whispers. Sitting up and crawling along her bed towards the cell door, Yang still couldn't make out the lyrics. All she could hear was the gradual rise and fall of her voice, circling through a simplistic melody.

Giving up, Yang slouched against the wall and listened attentively to the sweet music. After a few minutes, the tempo slowed even further – shifting perhaps into a new song. It was lower and harder for Yang to hear, but she felt the notes thrumming in her chest.

Letting her head rest back against the wall, Yang closed her eyes – floating. She let the lark's hushed voice wash over her. The music shifted again, and Yang recognized the next song. Even though she still couldn't quite make out the words, she remembered the tune from that night she'd laid with her head in Cadeja's lap, listening.

" _Ella es la Llorona_ ," echoed the memory of Cadeja's voice in Yang's head. Opening her eyes, she felt the muscles in her jaw clench shut as she remembered the story behind the song.

Curling up her knees, Yang hugged her legs to her chest and let herself drift with the melody. Burying her face against her legs, Yang tried to shake the memory that followed on the heels of the song's lyrics –

" _Ave rota – la sangre cae. Ave rota – la sangre llora. Ave rota – la sangre…"_

Yang squeezed her eyes shut, trying to cast out the vestiges of the nightmare. In the darkness, she saw again her sister's face, white teeth flashing, as she spoke with Cadeja's voice.

" _Ave rota – la sangre habla. Ave rota – la sangre r_ _íe. Ave rota…"_

Opening her eyes and crawling back under the sheets, she pulled a blanket over her head. Gradually, her memory of the dream changed and morphed. Ruby's face slowly melted away, replaced by Cadeja's – mouth open and fangs dripping with blood. Her lips pulled down into a grimace, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

"Ave rota…" she whispered, almost begging.

"Ave rota… help me, ave rota. Dónde estás, ave rota? Help me!" she cried.

Yang pulled the blanket tighter around her, trying to block out the sound.

Cadeja screamed, her words echoing louder in Yang's head.

"Ave rota! AVE ROTA!"

Yang buried herself deeper in the sheets, lying on her stomach and waiting for the voice to fade.

"Ave rota… cuídate, y vela por mi hermana… despierta la niña, despiértate Raya… Ave rota, can you protect her? Can you?"

Cadeja's voice was lower, softer.

"Ave rota, how can you protect her if you can't even save yourself?"

Huffing, Yang flung the blankets off her head and propped herself up on her elbow. Looking at the fuzzy shapes of shifting shadows, she stared into the darkness of the cell until the last vestiges of Cadeja's voice disappeared, retreating with the memory of the nightmare.

Distantly, Yang listened to the lark's song drift to an end, the last note hanging in the air for a moment before giving way to renewed silence.

Yang's eyes burned, red-rimmed and itching. Folding herself back into her mattress, she rubbed at them with the back of her hand.

She felt the irrational urge to peer over the edge of her bed and see if Cadeja was in the bunk below her. Giving in, she leaned over, gripping the metal bedframe with her hand – glaring uselessly into the dark.

 _Nope, she's not there,_ she thought, throwing herself back against her pillow.

_It's just me._

_Alone_.

* * *

For the next few days, Yang went through the motions of her daily routine, more or less in a robotic slumber. She'd stumble out of bed, let herself be dragged off to the showers or the mess hall or the library… she didn't much care.

Once while sitting in the Yard – her back against the great oak – she woke up from her haze to find herself crouching, backed into a corner like a feral animal.

She had angled herself towards a group of women over by the weights – unconsciously watching for their approach. In the middle stood Sasha, but save for a quick glance in Yang's direction, she left the girl alone.

She was preoccupied with the group around her. A loose ring of girls sort of just stood about, looking gaunt and almost absent from their own lives. Yang assumed they must have been the girls caught fighting – finally released from the SHU. Not a single one of them spoke. The only voices were hushed mumbles that passed between Sasha and Roxie, heads bent together in the middle of the group.

The only other time Yang seemed to check in was when she caught a glimpse of Raya in the cafeteria, a few days after Cadeja had been dragged off by the guards.

As D block lined up to grab breakfast – plastic trays in hand – inmates from A block were being led out of the cafe. Looking up from her place in line, Yang briefly caught Raya's eye. A small smile touched her lips, but it didn't reach her eyes. Bowing her head, she ducked out of the room in the crowd being marched away by the COs.

Yang simply stood there, staring after her – knowing that there was nothing she could really say or do to help.

Numbly watching a cafeteria worker's hands slide some sort of cold cut sandwich onto her tray, Yang's mind drifted – hearing again Cadeja's words:

_Ave rota, can you protect her?_

For the better part of a week, Yang hardly spoke to anyone. It wasn't until Cadeja was gone that Yang realized just how much she'd come to depend on her, and think of her as a friend. One night, sitting in her cell, Yang came to the shocked realization that the person she'd talked to the most in the past several days was _Darrah_.

 _Now_ that's _depressing…_ she thought, eyes wide and staring at the concrete wall.

Most nights, Yang would drift off to sleep early, listening to the thrum of conversations in D block. Sometimes she'd read a little or try to write a letter home, but mostly her mind wandered – unable to focus. She'd find herself sitting at the dilapidated desk in her cell just looking at the pages uncomprehendingly, not really thinking much of anything.

It was in one of these moods when Yang's ears perked up, attracted by the noise of the cell door opening behind her.

A low buzz rattled from a muffled speaker, then the _clank_ of a mechanism unlocking followed by the _chut chut chut bang_ of the metal bars sliding open.

Turning, Yang jumped out of her chair when she saw Cadeja being led in by a CO and Adrienne. It'd only been a week since the incident in the Rec Center, but Cadeja looked thinner somehow – more frail – as if she hadn't eaten in days.

The guard held her firmly by her upper arm, guiding her into the cell. Her hands were cuffed in front of her. Adrienne had a hand on her back, watching her every step like a child, which Yang realized was probably a necessary precaution – Cadeja was shaking on her feet, looking like her legs could give out at any moment.

Adrienne's eyes briefly flicked up to meet Yang's, seeming to study her face for a moment before saying something in Cadeja's ear, too low for Yang to hear. Stepping back, she exited the cell and walked a few paces away from the door. Only then did the CO release the cuffs from around Cadeja's wrists.

Following Adrienne out, the CO yelled up to the command booth and ordered the cell door shut. The metal bars groaned along their track and slammed home, flush against the concrete wall. Adrienne and the CO walked away, disappearing out of sight and leaving Yang and Cadeja alone in their cell.

Cadeja stood where the guard had left her, absently rubbing at her wrists. It took Yang a moment to understand what it was, but there was something off about her face.

Stepping closer, her eyes widened as she realized how _swollen_ her face was. Her lips, jaw, cheeks – all were puffed out, skin taught and shiny. Dark bruises covered her jawline, running up to her cheekbones and sinking into the bags beneath her eyes.

"Cadeja…"

Ignoring Yang's openmouthed scrutiny, Cadeja slowly walked over to her bunk. Feeling the edge of her bed with her hand, she gingerly lowered herself onto the mattress, leaning dizzily to one side before correcting herself and sitting more or less upright.

As she turned, Yang noticed that the golden spike earring that was usually pierced through the cartilage of her left ear was missing – the edges of the hole ragged, looking as if it'd been torn out forcibly.

Crouching down, Yang put a hand on Cadeja's knee – still unable to look away from her face. Cadeja shied away from her touch, but made no move to swat her hand away. She just looked down at the floor, refusing to meet Yang's eye.

Angrily, Yang noticed dried blood in the corners of Cadeja's mouth. She felt her eyes flash red, tinting her vision.

_What did they do to her?_

After a moment, Cadeja winced – the skin around her eyes tightening as the muscles in the lower part of her face refused to move. Leaning away from Yang, she swung her legs up onto the bed and rolled onto her side, facing the wall.

As she moved, she inadvertently knocked her pillow onto the floor. Reaching over, Yang picked it up and hesitated – not sure how Cadeja would react if Yang tried to lift her head and slide the pillow underneath.

She stood motionless – unsure of what to do. Eventually, she decided to help. Leaning over the bed, she placed the pillow just behind Cadeja, and then slipped her hand under her head.

Yang must have brushed against one of the swollen bruises on the underside of Cadeja's face, because the wolf Faunus jumped at the touch and spun around to face Yang, her lips pulled back in a snarl, hissing.

"Holy sh-" the words died in Yang's mouth as she jumped back, drawing her hand away.

At first, Yang wasn't entirely sure what she was looking at – and almost before she could fully comprehend what she was seeing, Cadeja snapped her jaws shut and let her eyes drop towards the floor, tears gathering on her cheeks.

_What…_

Understanding dawned on Yang and her mouth dropped open.

What she had seen were two small, black and bloodied holes in Cadeja's mouth – right where her fangs had been.

_They pulled out her implants…_

Yang flinched – the image of thick, rusting metal pliers flashing in her mind. She could almost feel their cold, hard grip on her own teeth, and she had to fight back the urge to reach up and touch her mouth to make sure it wasn't real.

She shivered – shaking away the sensation.

From between her swollen lips, Cadeja managed to mumble, "Leave me alone, ave rota. There's nothing you can do here."

Stunned, Yang took another step away.

"But…"

Yang clamped her mouth shut, and nodded – deciding to give Cadeja her space. Her lips set into a grimly determined line. Rather than climbing up into her own bunk, she backed up a few more steps and sank to the floor, sitting crossed-legged with her back against the wall. She let her arm rest across one of her knees, and she settled in.

Cadeja's eyes followed her, a small spark of curiosity breaking through – a tiny bit of light. She blinked once, slowly, and bobbed her head in a brief nod.

Yang registered the wordless 'thank you.'

"It's ok," she said. "You can go to sleep, I'll be here."

The muscles in Cadeja's throat tightened and she looked as if she would speak again, but after a moment she relaxed and let her eyelids close.

After a while, Yang thought Cadeja had finally drifted off to sleep – but she never relaxed her pose. She would sit up all night watching, feeling that in some small way – she was helping.

* * *

The next morning, Yang's head drooped – touching her chin to her chest. She rubbed at the corners of her eyes, blinking as the fluorescents hummed to life, flooding the room with a wan yellow light.

Stretching, she cracked the stiff joints in her neck and shoulders – reaching her arm towards the ceiling and arching her back away from the wall behind her. A low moan escaped her lips and she yawned, squeezing her eyes shut until she released the stretch.

Stirred by the light, Cadeja lifted her head from her pillow, the black-tipped tuft of one ear twitching. Her white-gray hair draped across her face like a curtain. Reaching up with her hand, she brushed it back over her shoulder.

Yang grimaced. The swelling in her face hadn't gone down much overnight, and the bruises were still a dark blue-black around her jaw.

Cadeja sat upright, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Yang looked away quickly before she could catch her staring at her face.

Gingerly, Cadeja reached up and poked the swollen muscles, occasionally wincing. Sliding off her bed, she lent a hand to Yang and helped hoist her off the floor to line up for count.

The cell door buzzed open and the two girls stood side by side, waiting for the COs to come by and check them off. Yang sneaked a glance up at Cadeja, concern flashing in her eyes. At least, the Faunus seemed steadier on her feet – although it didn't seem like she'd be talking much until her face and jaw returned to normal.

Silently, they walked beside each other as they were led to the cafeteria after count. As they paced down the halls, Yang found herself looking around at the other girls – almost trying to shield Cadeja from the inmates around them.

Some girls pointed, whispering behind their hands – not doubt about the bruises on Cadeja's face. Nobody said anything to them directly or made a move towards them, but something clenched in Yang's stomach. Whatever it was, it refused to let her drop her guard.

_It's probably nothing…_

Regardless, Yang's hand balled up into a fist. Every few seconds she'd force herself to relax her grip, only to have her fingers curl up again – the veins on the back of her hand throbbing under her skin.

After shuffling through the line, Cadeja and Yang made their way over to their customary table by the wall. They sat across from each other and Yang started to munch on some dry toast. For a few minutes they sat quietly, and Cadeja would occasionally stir a spoon in her oatmeal. She made no attempt to eat it.

Casting an eye around the room, Yang noticed that several groups of women seemed to be looking at them – leaning over the tables and talking animatedly. Yang frowned, sneaking a glance at Cadeja. As far as she could tell, the wolf Faunus was ignoring them.

About halfway through breakfast, Yang noticed a break in the large group of Faunus huddled around the tables at the far end of the room. The circle of women opened up as Leonie and her sister came striding towards where Yang and Cadeja sat.

Leonie's stride was long and purposeful, crossing the room quickly with her sister Judith in tow. Her long tail flicked from side to side – its tip twitching as if irritated.

Yang craned her neck up to watch as the Faunus loomed over their table, hands on her hips. Judith went around Cadeja's side of table, leaning around her with one hand on the tabletop.

"That was a stupid fucking move, Álvarez. Freya's a freak but she's mostly harmless. Was it worth it?" demanded Leonie, her eyes boring into Cadeja.

Yang glanced at Cadeja, who hadn't even looked up from her uneaten breakfast. After a moment, Yang opened her mouth – turning to answer Leonie but Judith silenced her with a look, shaking her head.

"She didn't ask you, _Yang_ ," she said. It was the first time Yang had really heard Judith's voice – it was low, almost gravelly.

Leonie briefly shifted her gaze to Yang, assessing the younger girl before turning her attention back to Cadeja.

"Speak up, Álvarez. The fuck happened to you?" she asked, eyes raking over the bruises on Cadeja's face. "Was it Kowalski? Other COs? Most girls don't come outta the SHU quite _that_ fucked up."

Yang stared, looking between the Faunus. Cadeja continued to glare silently at the tray in front of her. Her hand curled into a fist on the table beside her breakfast.

Impatience flickered across Leonie's features.

"Cadeja!" she barked, slamming a hand against the table. Yang, leaning on her elbow, felt the metal surface shake under her. "What happened!"

The skin tightened around Cadeja's eyes and she slowly turned her head to meet Leonie's gaze, glaring up at her from under her creased brow.

An almost imperceptible look passed between the Verté sisters. Yang barely caught it as Leonie bobbed her chin in a brief nod at Judith.

Yang nearly jumped up from the table when she heard Cadeja scream – whipping her head back towards her friend, she saw that Judith had reached up squeezed the sides of Cadeja's cheeks with her fingers, pressing harshly into the bruises.

As she roared in pain, Cadeja's mouth opened and bared her teeth.

Yang heard Leonie suck in a breath, cussing.

"No they fuckin' didn't," she hissed, leaning closer to Cadeja's mouth.

Leonie pushed her face into Cadeja's, trying to get a better look, but by then Cadeja had snapped her jaws shut. She raised a hand to her cheek, shuddering.

Judith looked up at her sister.

"What? What did you see?" she asked. Standing behind Cadeja, she hadn't seen into her mouth.

"They pulled her _fangs_ ," said Leonie, practically spitting out the last word.

A look of disgust crossed Judith's face and she glanced over at the group of Faunus seated by the cafeteria's exit. Yang followed her line of sight, face falling when she saw that the other inmates were watching them closely. Already, their whispers had escalated into a roaring murmur that quickly spread across the cafe.

"Attacking a Faunus like that, those dicks in blue are practically asking for a fight," she growled.

Leonie glanced back over her shoulder, looking at the growing crowd of Faunus, pointing and staring at Cadeja.

"Trust me – after this shit, I can almost guarantee they're gonna get one," she muttered, eyes narrowing.

Yang hesitated – feeling out of place, she didn't want to point out that Cadeja's fangs weren't technically a Faunus trait. Biting her lip, she realized that ' _technically_ ' didn't matter much. What mattered was what it all looked like: human guards had ripped the fangs out of the mouth a beaten, broken-looking Faunus.

The hair stood up on the back of Yang's neck. Glancing around, she saw that the news was spreading fast. Even the human women seemed to know what was going on – some were already bickering with small groups of Faunus. Several inmates were pointing and yelling. One woman with a bushy black tail grabbed a human inmate by the front of her shirt, shaking her.

 _This is gonna get ugly…_ thought Yang, rising out of her seat. _It's not gonna take long for news of this to spread all over the Birdcage_.

COs started to wade through the rows of tables, leaving their posts around the perimeter of the room. The Faunus glared at them as they passed, letting their conversations die out. Faunus and human women backed off from one another, some with their hands held in the air and false smiles on their faces.

_Maybe the COs can get them to back down for now… but that's not gonna last long. The Faunus are gonna talk themselves into a fury._

Yang turned her attention back to the table in front of her when Judith grunted, pushed aside as Cadeja stood up from the bench. Tossing her hair over her shoulder – and whipping Judith in the face with it as she passed – Cadeja stomped away.

"Hold up!" yelled Yang, rushing after her. In her hurry, she bumped Leonie with her shoulder as she shoved her way past. Mumbling an apology, Yang noticed that the tall Faunus was too distracted to even notice.

Catching up to Cadeja, Yang put a hand on her shoulder and steered her away from her direct path towards the exit. Guiding her around the large group of Faunus, Yang scanned the room. Making a decision, she marched towards a CO standing to the left of the exit, dragging Cadeja with her.

"CO Lowell!" she called, catching her eye.

"Yes, inmate?" she said, nervously eyeing the muttering groups of Faunus around them.

"We're done with breakfast. Can you take us back to D block?" said Yang.

The guard hesitated – it wasn't standard procedure to let inmates leave meals early.

"Um…"

Lowell noticed at the dejected look on Cadeja's face, still dithering.

"Please," said Yang, flashing her a weak smile. "My cellmate is tired. I think she needs to lie down. She'll be more comfortable back in her own bed," she continued, hoping she sounded convincing.

_C'mon dammit we need to get out of here before this place goes nuts!_

CO Lowell seemed to make up her mind. She nodded, bringing a small radio up to her mouth.

"Sir – Lowell in the cafe. I'm escorting a sick inmate back to D block early. I'll report back in five."

A voice crackled through on the other end, presumably acknowledging what she'd said.

Looking back at Yang and Cadeja, she said, "Let's go." Beckoning with her arm, she led them out of the cafeteria and back towards D block.

After a few minutes, they were back in their cell. Standing by the door, Lowell looked at Cadeja sympathetically as she settled back into her bed.

"I'll be back for you guys later. You have rec hour in the Yard this morning," she said, stepping away as the cell door clanked shut.

Yang looked up, seeing that the guard had already turned and started walking away. Calling after her, she said softly, "Thank you."

Sitting in the chair at their desk, Yang turned herself towards Cadeja's bed.

"You doing okay?" she asked.

Cadeja opened her mouth, and paused, spitting before she could speak. A little bit of fresh blood landed on the floor where her spit landed.

"I'm gonna be okay," she said – her swollen lips distorting her speech. "Just need to lay low for a while." She grimaced, hand gently touching where Judith had pressed into her bruises earlier.

Yang nodded. Sitting in the chair backwards, she draped her arm over the back of the chair and rested her chin on it. She paused, thinking.

"You wanna talk about what happened?" asked Yang.

Cadeja shook her head once.

"Not yet."

"Okay. Just – when you're ready, I'll be here."

Cadeja smiled weakly, flinching when the muscles in her face contracted around the bruises.

"…and whatever happened with Kowalski, you don't have to say anything – but if you ever want to…"

Cadeja's smile faded.

"…someday," was all she said.

For a moment Cadeja's eyes glazed over – looking like she was a million miles away. After a pause, she seemed to snap back to herself, shaking her head and tossing her hair.

"How's Raya?" she asked, unable to roll the 'r.'

For a minute, Yang considered exaggerating what she knew, but she shook her head – deciding to tell the truth.

"Honestly, I don't really know. I've only seen her once when she was leaving the cafe with the rest of A block," she said. "But I'm sure Church and Mirra are keeping an eye on her. She'll be ok."

Cadeja nodded along as Yang spoke, not really looking at anything.

"Thanks, Yang," she said. Lying back, she rested her head on her hands. "I think I'm gonna try to get some rest till Lowell comes back. It's gonna take a while for my aura to fix all this shit," she murmured, indicating her face.

"Probably not a bad idea," said Yang. Not bothering to climb up into her own bed, Yang let her eyes close, her head still resting on her arm draped over the back of the chair. Exhaustion after a long, sleepless night was rapidly starting to catch up with her.

But before either of them could fall asleep, a clamor of voices echoed through D block as the rest of the inmates returned from breakfast.

Yang picked her head up, looking towards the source of the noise. The tenor of their voices was a little too loud for the usual conversation that buzzed through the Wilds.

The volume picked up as the inmates came further down the rows of cells. In the crowd, some girls were yelling. Standing up, Yang crossed over to the bars of her cell and peered out.

Below her, on level one, she saw a Faunus with some sort of rat tail cat-calling at a group of human inmates. Yang recognized some of them as part of Sasha's crew – one or two had even been women locked up in the SHU for fighting in the Yard.

A guard barked at the Faunus to shut up, but she spun on her heel and started yelling at him instead. Several other inmates joined her, forming a tight half-circle around him.

Elsewhere, Yang could hear similar arguments as inmates yelled at each other and at the COs who were trying to force them back into their cells.

"You racist son of a bitch! Of course you'd take _her_ side!"

"What're you gonna do? Pull my teeth out and lop off my tail you prick?"

"INMATE! Shut your mouth and return to your-"

The guard's voice cut off mid-sentence and he grunted. Yang couldn't see where he was, but she heard a _thud_ followed by the sound of air whooshing out of his lungs.

Gripping the bars with her hand, she pressed her face against the cell door trying to get a better look at what was going on around her.

Everywhere, fights were breaking out between inmates and the guards. Heavily outnumbered, the COs were quickly overwhelmed. Some girls – trying to duck out of the way – darted into nearby cells. Belatedly, a siren sounded and a metallic buzzing noise rocked D block as each of the cell doors slid shut, triggered by the emergency alarm.

Unfortunately, most of the inmates of the Wilds had still been in the hallways running along the rows of cells when the doors slammed shut. Radios crackled as COs called for backup.

"Somebody get the Warden's office on the phone!"

"WE NEED MORE MEN GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE NOW! D BLOCK IS COMPROMISED!"

All the while, Yang watched as the fights escalated around her. Across from her on the second floor, she saw two girls clawing at each other's faces. One grabbed a fistful of brown hair and smashed the other girl's face into the bars of the nearest cell. The bones of her cheek cracked with an audible _crunch_ before she collapsed unconscious to the floor.

Yang jumped back as a tall, skinny male guard ran by her cell, nearly hitting her exposed hand wrapped around the bars as he passed by. Chasing him was a group of three women, teeth bared in openmouthed snarls.

Panicking, he dropped his baton and reached for a small remote in his pocket. Fumbling, he pressed a button and a second later screams tore through the air – ripping out of the cells all over second floor D block. He had remotely activated some of the ankle monitors – electrocuting the inmates wearing them.

Unfortunately for him, he only triggered two of his pursuers' monitors, and the third one fell on him, crying out as her comrades collapsed. Horrified, Yang looked away – noticing several unconscious bodies littered all over the floor. In his rush, he had electrocuted several innocent bystanders, including some of the women who had hidden in the cells.

Yang flinched as Cadeja appeared beside her, covering her ears with her hands to block out the blaring alarm and screeching inmates. D block practically shook as the growling voices of COs barked at their attackers, women everywhere – Faunus and human alike – screaming at the guards, alarms pulsing through the air.

And slowly, a chorus of _beep beep beep_ welled up amidst the crowd of roaring voices.

Somewhere on one of the floors above them, something crashed and an inmate in khaki scrubs shrieked as she fell over a railing, falling three floors to the bottom of D block. Yang's eyes bulged out of her head as she watched. After a moment, the woman started to move again – somehow still conscious. One of her legs was crumpled underneath her – clearly broken.

Looking away, Yang's attention went back to the guard who'd been tackled in front of her cell. Belatedly, she found herself yelling at the inmate who was still on top of him, trying to get her hands around his throat.

"STOPPPPPP!"

The scream echoed inside her head and tore at the inside of her throat. Not hearing or not caring, the woman ignored her and continued her assault on the guard pinned underneath her.

Even before the cry died in her throat, Yang lost track of the sound of her own voice as the beeps screeching out of a macabre choir of monitors ripped into a crescendo and several women lost their fights with the COs, zapped into unconsciousness after triggering the devices around their ankles.

And still, Yang screamed uselessly.

"STOP! STOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!"

Motion flickered in her peripheral vision and Yang pushed her face back against the bars, watching as more COs flooded onto the second floor of D block. Running ahead of the crowd, CO Lowell came barreling towards the inmate on top of the guard in front of Yang and Cadeja's cell.

But even as she reached the girl and started pulling her off – still raining blows down on the guard beneath her – more inmates came rushing down the walkway from the opposite direction.

CO Lowell disappeared in a mass of roiling bodies. Yang reached her hand out through the bars, desperately trying to help. She barely even registered it when Cadeja pulled her back, screaming in her ear.

The fights started to dissolve as more and more inmates triggered their monitors, but still the guards were heavily outnumbered. A girl fell and Yang caught a glimpse of CO Lowell, wrestling with a Faunus who was trying to pry her nightstick out of her hand.

The Faunus was heavier than the small guard and started to wrest the black baton out of Lowell's hands. Yang briefly lost sight of them as two girls clawing at each other scrambled between them. By the time they moved past Yang's cell, the Faunus had taken hold of the hefty weapon.

Eyes wide, CO Lowell stuffed her hand into her pocket – fingers searching for the monitors' remote – but a vicious blow landed on her unprotected wrist and something crunched. Lowell gripped her wounded arm, hunching over in pain.

Unable to protect herself, she started to retreat – and backed into a group of her colleagues, trying to defend themselves from their own attackers. The large Faunus advanced, and started to lash out with the baton.

Lowell stumbled back, tripping as the Faunus landed several hits on Lowell's exposed head and shoulders. Yang's stomach sank as the nightstick landed with a wet _thud_ , raking Lowell across her face. Blood spattered from a gash on her right cheek and her nose stuck out at a funny angle, bits of cartilage peeking through the skin.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Yang bellowed, helpless.

CO Lowell collapsed to the floor, hands raised over her head. Guards everywhere were shouting. Inmates screamed. And still the Faunus attacked.

_Crack. Crack. Thud._

A gleeful laughter bubbled up through the chaos.

A crunching sound squelched as the baton connected again and again with Lowell's now unconscious body.

 _Thud. Thud. Crunch_.

"NOOOOOOO! STOPPPPPPPP!"

Dimly, Yang registered more beeps, punctuating the sirens and alarms and screams and roars with a high-pitched wail –

_BEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP_

A shiver ran up Yang's spine, and even as she stared at the bloody red mess where CO Lowell's face used to be, she was able to sense the pain coming a moment before it started –

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" bellowed a deep, disembodied voice.

Every muscle in Yang's body contracted, snapping her head back and freezing her arms in place. Her stomach clenched, legs shaking. Something heavy brushed against her, falling. _Cadeja?_

Yang's eyes rolled back in her head – jaw clenched together so tight it felt like her teeth would break.

_Make it stop, make it stop…_

It was all over in a matter of seconds – the electric current running through Yang from her monitor peaked and her jaw released just briefly enough for her to utter a strangled cry as she finally collapsed to the floor, landing awkwardly on top of Cadeja – already subdued by the shock.

Yang's vision started to fade, still staring vaguely at the mangled form of CO Lowell, her body lying on the floor just across from Yang on the opposite side of the bars.

Slowly, a black curtain fell over the world – and the jumbled collection of thoughts and spasming muscles that was Yang Xiao Long slipped, fading into unconsciousness.

* * *

Author's note: Hey guys so there's another three chapters for volume one of Behind Bars! I'll be back with the next three in a few days.

Please feel free to reach out and let me know how you think it's going! I really appreciate your feedback :D


	10. The Dying of the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaos has taken over Briarcliff and the life of one of the guards hangs in the balance. But Yang has even bigger problems looming on the horizon...

Behind Bars

Part Ten: The Dying of the Light

* * *

When Yang woke up she felt like she was going to puke. Her heart fluttered frantically and the muscles in her chest clenched, making it hard to breathe. Her pulse roared inside her head, rhythmically beating against her skull.

Dizzily, she raised her head and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Looking down, she saw blood smeared on her skin.

_Must've bit my lip…_

Supporting herself with her hand, Yang pushed herself up into a sitting position, shifting her weight off of Cadeja's chest. Looking down, she saw that the Faunus was starting to stir, hugging her arms across her stomach and curling up on her side.

After a moment, Cadeja heaved and threw up, blood mixing in with the bile. Spinning, Yang tried to look away – feeling her own stomach flip in response.

Crawling, Yang made her way over to their desk and grabbed a water bottle that one of them had bought from the commissary. As she made her way back across the floor to Cadeja, she noticed a burning sensation slowly climbing up her lower leg. Glancing down, she saw that the skin around her ankle monitor was a bright pink.

Ignoring it, she sat by Cadeja's side – careful to avoid the vomit. The wolf Faunus sat up with her back against the bars, taking a few deep breaths.

"Here," said Yang, offering the water bottle.

Cadeja took the bottle and cautiously took a small sip, grimacing. For a moment she struggled to swallow it before she was forced to spit it out, splattering the floor with more blood.

Yang recoiled slightly, just narrowly dodging the jet of water. Concern flashed in her eyes as she watched Cadeja's fingers gingerly poke and prod the bruises around her mouth.

"Let me see," she mumbled, leaning in for a closer look.

Cadeja turned her head away at first – cheeks blazing and her lips tightening into an angry line – but after a moment she relented, opening her mouth for Yang.

Peering in, Yang saw fresh blood oozing from the holes where her upper canines had been. She shuddered, remembering the force of electricity running through her body, and guessed that Cadeja's jaw had probably clamped down the same way her own had – thereby reopening the wounds.

Frowning, Yang tried to look closer. Gently, she put a finger under Cadeja's lower jaw and urged her to tilt her head back towards the light.

 _Oh crap, that's not good…_ she thought, squinting.

Cadeja's gums were a bright angry red and they looked puffed up and shiny. Curious, Yang pressed the back of her hand to Cadeja's forehead.

_It could just be from the shock… but she's definitely running a temperature…_

She sighed, removing her hand from Cadeja's face.

"I think at least one of the holes in your mouth is starting to get infected," she said as Cadeja closed her mouth and slouched back against the bars behind her.

"Mierda," spat Cadeja, brow furrowing. Yang watched as she closed her eyes, concentrating. She felt a slight shift in the air around them as Cadeja slowly built up her aura – just enough to bring some relief to the swollen muscles in her face without triggering the monitor again.

After a few moments, she opened her eyes and released the flow of energy.

"That's about all I can do for now," she said. "I could start tryin' to close the holes, but if they're infected that'd probably just make things worse."

Yang nodded. Gathering her knees underneath herself, she slowly wobbled up into a standing position and studied the scene on the other side of the bars.

Almost all of the inmates in sight were either unconscious or gradually starting to rouse themselves, littered all over the walkways of D block like so many broken dolls.

_They must have triggered all of the monitors…_

A shiver ran up Yang's spine, shaking her from head to toe. Eyes drifting, she settled on a spattered puddle of blackened blood just outside her cell door. Yang's throat tightened – remembering the sight of CO Lowell's face, smashed to a red pulp. The guard herself was nowhere to be seen – carried off by some of the other COs, presumably to the med bay.

 _There's no way she could have survived so much damage… there's just no way…_ Yang's thoughts drifted off, her stomach sinking.

Looking around, she watched a dozen or so guards dragging unconscious and half-conscious inmates into nearby cells, not caring if girls were put back in the right place – only that they were all locked up before they came to.

Absentmindedly, Yang noticed how quiet it was in the Wilds. After the earlier assault of sirens and screams, she dimly registered a slight ringing in her ears.

When the guards had ordered some of the cell doors unlocked, the alarms must have been shut off as well because the only noises in D block were the murmured voices of on-edge COs and the occasional sniffling cry of an inmate waking up with fresh burns on her leg from the monitors.

Already, the guards had cleared a good number of the girls out of the walkways – at least from what Yang could see on the lower levels. Except for that one girl who'd fallen over the railing, Yang had no idea what had happened above them. Looking down, Yang noticed that she too had disappeared.

Biting her lip, Yang wondered just how long she'd been out cold.

Distracted, Yang jumped when she felt Cadeja's elbow brush against her as the Faunus stood up to join her.

"I can't believe it," she said, shaking her head. "This shit's bad, even for the Birdcage. Never seen anything like it."

"Coming from you that's not exactly comforting," muttered Yang.

Cadeja ignored the comment.

"I just hope the other blocks didn't get hit this bad. There's a more concentrated population of Faunus here, but sometimes girls are just lookin' for an excuse to pick fights. They don't really care why or who with, just been cooped up too long…"

Yang watched Cadeja's eyes narrow into dark slits, her hands wrapping around the bars.

Yang knew that what Cadeja was really worried about was Raya. Staring at the dried pool of CO Lowell's blood, she couldn't help but admit to herself that Cadeja's fear was justified.

After a moment's pause, Yang simply said, "I hope so too."

Still looking straight ahead, Yang noticed that some of the guards had started to escort inmates out of D block. From what she could tell, they were moving several girls to the med bay.

The inmates being led out of the Wilds were all clutching broken wrists to their chests or limping, bleeding from cuts on their faces. Universally, they all seemed shaky on their feet – still unsteadied by the electricity from the monitors.

To her left, Yang could hear the low voices of two COs talking to one another.

"No, they look fine. We're only taking the ones who really need to see Doc. At this point the hospital ward's already overcrowded. Besides, Doc is busy trying to do something about Lowell. What the fuck she's gonna do with _that_ I've got no clue. Shit's hopeless…"

As the pair of guards passed by their cell, Yang waved her arm through the bars and called out.

"CO! CO, my cellmate needs to be transferred to the med bay!"

The guards turned and briefly scrutinized Cadeja. They were supporting a barely conscious girl between them, her feet dragging on the floor. From what Yang could tell she might have been concussed – there was a rapidly darkening bruise over her right eye.

"Álvarez can wait. We're only taking girls with severe injuries."

Yang recognized the guard who spoke, so she changed tack.

"CO Reilly," she said, focusing solely on him, "this fight started because of what happened to her." She jerked her head towards Cadeja. "I think the holes in her mouth are infected. You really wanna see what happens when the Faunus find out the guards let her get sick after they already pulled her fangs? You guys have enough to deal with as it is, don't you?"

Reilly heaved a heavy sigh. He made eye contact with his partner, who simply shook his head.

"We can't support another one that far with this girl passed out on us already. Just look at her – she's shaking and all she's doing is standing up. She'll never make it on her own," he said to Reilly, still refusing to look at Yang.

Not giving Reilly the chance to respond, Yang jumped in.

"I can help – she can lean on me."

Reilly grunted, a look of uncertainty on his face. For a moment he stared at his boots before he looked up, nodding.

"Fine," he grumbled, shifting the girl's weight higher up on his shoulder.

"I don't think that's such a good-"

"She's fine," he said, cutting off the other guard's protest. "Xiao Long's not gonna do anything stupid. Let's go," he muttered, starting to drag the unconscious girl with him.

Scrambling, the other guard fiddled with his radio. Murmuring a couple hurried words, he passed along the command to open their cell.

As the guards backed up to give them room, Yang took Cadeja's arm over her shoulder and stepped through the opening cell door. The world spun for a moment before Yang bit her lip and forced herself to concentrate. The burning in her leg intensified with the added weight, forcing her to limp.

"Ave rota, you really don't have to do this," murmured Cadeja in her ear.

Yang scoffed. "You're only saying that because you haven't seen your face. You look like you're gonna pass out."

"I'll be fine, I just need to lie down," she retorted.

Regardless, Cadeja didn't fight when Yang started to lead her down the hall in front of the pair of COs.

"Just don't puke in my hair," said Yang, smiling and shaking her head. "Then your teeth'll be the least of your problems."

Cadeja coughed and chuckled.

"Yeah sure, you're real scary, rubia."

For several minutes they hobbled down the hallways of Briarcliff, pausing at each gate until the COs verified that they had permission to leave D block. At one point, a nervous female CO refused to buzz them through until Reilly shouted at her, essentially scaring the already skittish guard into submission.

With Cadeja and the other inmate leaning on them, the group made slow progress across the compound. Every once in a while, the girl hanging off the guards' shoulders would mumble something nonsensical, head flopping side to side as her weight shifted.

Keeping their eyes peeled, Yang and Cadeja surveyed the areas they passed through once they left the Wilds. COs bustled back and forth, running from cellblock to cellblock or ferrying messages to the administrative offices.

Generally, most of the traffic moved towards the medical ward – located on the western side of the Birdcage, nestled between B and C blocks, adjacent to some of the offices used by counselors and members of the Warden's staff.

Picking up broken pieces of conversation and whispers in the halls, Yang and Cadeja found out that D block had been the worst of it – the other three cellblocks had been contained before full scale riots could break out. Aside from a few fights between inmates and guards, the violence had mostly been concentrated in the Wilds.

Regardless, work duties had been cancelled for all but the kitchen staff – who would still need to prep the next meal for Briarcliff's residents.

In the rush to reassign emergency staff to D block and deal with the fallout from the riot, many inmates had been left in limbo – unable to get back to their cellblocks. Some were still being led back to their cells from either their work assignments or rec hour in the Yard.

By the time they reached the far end of the prison, Yang was shaking with the effort to support Cadeja's weight. The Faunus's face had blanched white and she looked perilously close to being sick again.

"Xiao Long," she said between breaths, "I think I need to stop."

Yang slowed her pace but didn't stop walking. She cast a glance over her shoulder at the COs behind them. Their faces were set with a grim determination. They weren't stopping until they made it to the hospital ward.

"Nope, you're gonna make it," said Yang, willing Cadeja to keep moving.

She heard Cadeja groan and felt a bristled white wolf ear swat at her head in irritation. Looking down the hallway, she saw several pairs of COs and injured inmates turning to pass through large double doors. Yang sincerely hoped that was the entrance to the med bay, because she wasn't sure how much farther they'd make it.

Luckily, Reilly and the other CO steered them towards the doors and ushered them inside, eager to drop their burden.

Inside, the room was a swamp of moaning bodies and yelling COs. Men and women in pale green scrubs hurried about, moving from one bed to the next. Some women were sitting up in bed with another patient seated on the foot of their cots. Space was rapidly running out with the arrival of each new inmate.

Scurrying over to a nearby cot, the guards dropped the semi-conscious girl off of their shoulders and stood up, stretching to relieve their cramped muscles. Unsure of what to do, Yang and Cadeja simply stood amidst the chaos.

The room hummed with a hundred different conversations. Murmuring nurses with clipboards made notes about patients' status, categorizing them by the severity of their injuries and establishing a chain of priority care. Guards yelled at clerks from the admin's office, demanding that a new shift take over for the beleaguered COs from D block.

Patients with relatively minor injuries groaned and begged for more painkillers, clutching at their wounded limbs and dripping with big, fat crocodile tears. Some women simply stared about the room with half-empty eyes, seemingly too stunned to comprehend their surroundings.

Limping through the room in search of a free exam table, Yang and Cadeja squeezed through the mass of bodies. As they moved further into the med bay, one particularly assertive voice cut through the crowd.

Ahead of them, Yang could make out a short woman with broad shoulders in a long white coat barking orders at the medical staff around her. Intermittently, she'd stop to yell at a man in the traditional suit-and-tie uniform of an administrative officer from the Warden's office.

Getting closer, Yang caught part of their conversation.

"I told you we needed huntsmen in the ranks of the COs! Just look at this! My staff are entirely overwhelmed, it's going to take hours to get all of these patients sorted out and tended to!" she shouted, her voice climbing above the din. She punctuated her speech with a toss of her long and slightly unkempt dirty-blonde hair.

"Your staff are supposed to be trained to handle these kinds of situations-" replied the admin, his well-manicured mustache ruffling as he spoke.

"Don't start with that shit again, Bud – just look at this! We don't have the numbers to deal with this many patients," she yelled, fixing him with an enraged glare.

Bud coughed, clearing his throat. Clearly this was a well-worn argument, almost scripted at this point. Making an effort not to roll his eyes, he said, "Vale just doesn't have the numbers to outfit a place like this with huntsmen – at least, not with the recent spike in Grimm activity throughout the kingdom."

"So get the numbers! I don't care if we have to lean on Atlas for help, but even just one or two huntsmen in the Wilds could have prevented this!" she shrieked, pointing at a crumpled form on a nearby cot. The patient was covered in thermal blankets, hooked up to an army of beeping machines.

Squinting, a chill crept through Yang's chest when she recognized CO Lowell. Her face was still a bloody red mess of displaced tissue and gleaming cartilage, poking through shredded skin.

The admin glanced away, refusing to look at CO Lowell. Yang saw his mustache twitch, moving over his lips as he muttered something unintelligible.

Lifting her weight off of Yang, Cadeja elbowed her way forward towards the woman in white. Yang stumbled from the sudden relief, taking a moment to get her bearings.

From a few steps away, Cadeja flagged down the doctor and yelled, "Hey Doc! Over here!"

The admin glanced up and took advantage of the distraction, shuffling away across the room – making a beeline for the exit. Yang shoved past him in her effort to catch up to Cadeja.

The doctor frowned, eyes following the rapidly disappearing clerk. Irritated she barked at Cadeja.

"Álvarez! What are you doing? Can't you see I was in the middle of yelling at that little shit?"

"Sorry Doc," said Cadeja, seemingly unaffected by the doctor's outrage. "But I'm not feelin' so hot," she said, swaying on her feet.

Yang rushed forward, letting Cadeja lean on her once again. The doctor's eyes flickered to Yang.

"Who's your friend?" she asked, attention focused back on Cadeja.

"She's my cellie," said the Faunus. "Name's Xiao Long. First timer."

The doctor grunted, nodding. Whipping out a thermometer seemingly from nowhere, she slid it between Cadeja's lips and grabbed her wrist, taking her pulse. After a minute, she removed the thermometer and squinted at it, shaking her head.

"Open your mouth," she commanded. Glowering, she examined the bright-red inside of Cadeja's mouth.

"I told the guards to make sure you kept this clean…" she muttered to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose.

After a brief pause, she continued. "I've got too much going on to take care of you myself this time, Álvarez, but I'll have one of the nurses start you on an antibiotic. But you," she said, eyes boring into Yang, "get her out of here. There's an empty exam room over there."

With the thermometer she indicated a door towards the back of the room.

"I don't want one of the girls seeing her and getting all riled up again, last thing we need is for another fight to break out. And I'll be damned if there's a riot in my hospital because of _this_ one," she said, indicating the wolf Faunus with her thumb. In spite of her harsh tone, her eyes were soft and she had a supporting hand under Cadeja's arm.

Yang decided that she liked this short, commanding woman.

With Doc's help, Yang ushered Cadeja into the exam room. With a final check on her patient, the doctor hurried out of the room, only to be replaced moments later by a nurse in rumpled scrubs.

Feeling in the way, Yang stepped out of the room. Glancing around, she saw that none of the COs were in much of a hurry to escort her back to D block, so she meandered through the rows of hospital cots until she found herself back by CO Lowell's bedside.

Uncertain of what to do, Yang took one of CO Lowell's hands in her own and held it gingerly. Forcing herself to look, she saw that a machine was breathing for her, a tube fed down Lowell's throat. The rise and fall of her chest matched the steady beeping of one of the machines.

Yang was reminded of the uselessness she'd felt watching Lowell get attacked and for a moment she entertained the ugly thought that even if she wasn't locked in her cell, she wouldn't have been able to help with just her one arm.

She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting against the wave of self-pity that she'd constantly had to push back since Sasha had attacked her near the D block showers, effectively reminding her that she wasn't the fighter she used to be before the Fall of Beacon.

 _Stop it!_ she thought to herself, her own voice roaring inside her mind.

_Self-pity isn't going to help you learn how to fight again and defend yourself… and others._

Looking down at CO Lowell, a new thought occurred to Yang.

_I don't even know her first name, this woman who's hand I'm holding and who I've seen almost every day for the past month and a half._

Casting a quick glance around the room, Yang snuck to the bottom of the bed and peeked at the chart clipped there. Running her eyes over the blur of hastily scribbled words, Yang found what she was looking for.

Hurriedly dropping the chart and stepping away before any of the nurses caught her, Yang went back to CO Lowell's side and took her hand again. Leaning in, she whispered something softly in the guard's ear.

"I'm sorry, Shalen…"

Quietly, she stood by the woman's bedside, still holding her hand and listening to the regular beeping of the machines. Slipping into an exhausted trance, she lost track of how long she'd been standing there.

"Inmate!" barked the voice of an angry CO.

Startled, Yang dropped CO Lowell's hand and backed away from the cot, turning to face the voice.

"Are you here for medical attention?" demanded a stocky guard with jet black hair.

Dumbly she shook her head, not speaking.

"If you aren't here to be treated then you should have been taken back to bunks!" he yelled, neck flushing red. Looking around he shouted, "Who's in charge of this inmate!"

A rather disgruntled-looking Reilly waded through the room to answer the CO who seemed to be in charge of tracking the movement of inmates through the med bay.

"I am, sir," he said lazily.

"Well get her out of here! Can't you see we don't have space for any extra bodies in here!"

"Yes, sir," he muttered, slipping a warm hand around Yang's upper arm and tugging her towards the exit.

When they were out of earshot, Reilly growled under his breath, "Scott is such a dick, power goes straight to his head. He's just a friggin' shift captain, gets the same shit pay as the rest of us…"

Yang didn't think the comment was particularly directed at her so she didn't bother to come up with a response, and Reilly didn't seem to expect one.

Somewhere in the room behind them, a cry went up and nurses went rushing towards CO Lowell's bedside. Even above the noise, Yang could hear one or two of the monitors shrieking frantically. Looking back over her shoulder, she struggled against CO Reilly, not wanting to be pulled out of the room.

He grunted, stopping for a moment to look at what was going on. A crowd of inmates and guards had gathered and they were staring, pressing closer to get a better look even as nurses and orderlies shoved them back.

Doc hovered over CO Lowell, wielding some sort of panels hooked up to a heavy gray machine on a nearby cart.

Waiting for a charge, Doc's loud voice cut through the chaos as she rubbed the panels together in a small circular motion.

"Dammit where's that airship! They were supposed to be here thirty minutes ago, I can't treat her here! Everybody back up!"

Yang took a step towards Lowell, but Reilly seemed to snap to his senses and started to pull her back towards the exit.

"Xiao Long, move it – there's nothing we can do here. Orders are-"

His voice cut off as another inmate elbowed him in the stomach, pushing past him to get a better view. Temporarily winded, Reilly clutched his stomach with one hand and simply started tugging on Yang's arm with the other, trying to make it to the double doors.

Yang still fought to stay, but slowly she allowed herself to be dragged out of the room one step at a time. She heard an electric buzz and flinched reflexively, not realizing that the sound came from the panels in Doc's hands.

"CLEAR!"

There was deep thud that seemed to rock the room.

"Fuck. Still losing her! Again – let's go again!"

Doc's voice started to fade, swallowed up by the crowd and thinned out over the increasing distance as Reilly finally managed to march her out into the hall. With one last look before the doors closed together, Yang saw a gap clear in the crowd as orderlies pushed people away from Lowell's cot and Yang caught a glance of the unconscious guard.

Tugging on her arm again, Reilly turned her around and started to lead her back the way they'd come. Feeling her resistance breaking, Reilly managed to march them up to a decent pace.

But even as they left the hospital ward behind them, Yang's mind was still half in the room, watching the scene unravelling around CO Lowell's bed.

After a minute, she saw guards rushing past them towards the eastern parts of the compound – presumably heading to reinforce A and D block. They paid Yang and Reilly no notice as they ran by, sprinting away from the med bay.

When they cleared the next hallway, Yang thought she heard something in the distance – sounding like a collective of voices raised in the murmur of clashing conversations. Curious, she tried to figure out exactly what it was she'd heard.

Mixed in with the voices, a shuddering vibration of tearing metal hummed through it all.

Still a minute or two away from D block, Yang and Reilly had to brace themselves as the whole of Briarcliff seemed to shake, rocked by some sudden impact.

"The fuck was that?" grunted Reilly, one hand against the wall.

"No idea," mumbled Yang, peering down the hallway.

After a moment, Reilly seemed to collect himself. Straightening up, he said, "Let's go."

Yang stumbled along, led away by the guard. As they neared D block, the noises grew louder.

"What is that?" wondered Yang, this time aloud.

Reilly didn't have the chance to answer as another impact rumbled through the building, nearly knocking them to their knees. The bubble of noise resolved itself into a series of screams as individual voices distinguished themselves amongst the crowd. It sounded like all of D block was in an uproar – women shrieking, terrified and demanding.

From behind them, more guards rushed past – running towards the Wilds at full tilt.

"What's happening?" shouted Yang, uselessly. The guards ignored her, too intent on getting to D block.

There was a sudden lull in the choir of panicked voices, and in the distance something else started screaming.

The sound triggered something in Yang's memory.

"Oh no…" she whispered, eyes widening as realization dawned on her.

Screeching above the crowd of voices, the noise squawked down at them again, echoing through the halls of the Birdcage.

"Not again," murmured Yang, distantly aware that CO Reilly was dragging her to her feet. "I'm not ready…"

Her voice trailed off, swallowed up by the cries.

* * *

Back in the med bay, in the moments it took Yang to realize what was happening, machines were shut off and the hospital team stepped away from the bedside. Doc stared down at the motionless form of her patient.

"This isn't it!" she yelled furiously, her hands balling up into fists. Grabbing one of her nurses by the front of her scrubs she said, "Don't you stop compressions it's not over yet!"

Eyeing the doctor worriedly, the nurse restarted compressions on Lowell's chest. Several minutes passed, the crowd practically holding its breath.

Another doctor in a white coat leaned down to Doc's ear, saying something no one else could hear:

"The airship still hasn't arrived. They're not going to make it."

Closing her eyes, a look of resignation washed over Doc's face.

"Dammit," she cursed, staring at the machine that monitored Lowell's heartrate. It chugged in time with the nurse's compressions – all natural activity had stopped.

Putting a hand on the nurse's shoulder, Doc said, "Stop. We have to call it. She's gone."

Warily, the nurse removed her hands and stepped away. Most of the room had gone silent, even the nosey inmates edging around each other for a better view.

The machine hooked up to CO Lowell's breathing tube still hummed wearily. Every second or so it clicked, imitating the function of inhaling and exhaling.

Glancing at a nearby orderly, Doc nodded.

"Shut it off," she said, for once her voice quiet and not quite in control.

Stone-faced, the orderly flipped a switch on the machine and it slowly powered down. CO Lowell's chest fell gradually as she took her last breath.

Quiet spread over the room, but it didn't last. In the distance, a raucous screaming grew louder and louder – voices from the eastern side of D block managing to drive deep into Briarcliff.

A hundred faces looked around confusedly, unable to discern what was causing the noise.

Doc stiffened as she felt a vibration shake the prison, followed by more screaming. Something roared. A deep shriek sounded overhead – too close.

Understanding dawned on the faces of some of the guards and the inmates. Hospital staff looked around worriedly at their overflowing ward of patients.

More screeching. A loud _thud_ as something heavy and metallic banged. A blood curdling roar.

Doc's knuckles turned white as she gripped the railing that lined the side of CO Lowell's cot.

"It's finally happened…" she said, looking at no one in particular.

Everyone in the room was silent, listening to the noises above and around them.

A strangled, deep throated cry bugled above them. The sound of metal tearing, another clang and the building shook again – the Birdcage shaking at its foundations.

A series of white faces looked past one another, seeing nothing; an icy sheet of cold air crept over the crowded space.

The creatures of Grimm had started their siege on Briarcliff.


	11. The Birds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Grimm have started their siege on the Birdcage - and now, Yang will have to find a way to survive unarmed and in the midst of panicking inmates.

Behind Bars

Part Eleven: The Birds, _Chapter the First_

* * *

Yang stumbled forward as she ran towards D block. Another tremor rumbled through the building, accompanied by the screech of tearing metal and the sound of something heavy crashing in the distance.

Her hand flying out, Yang braced herself against the wall.

_Dammit, can't even stay on my feet…_

Yang's ears rang as an alarm blared to life, its wail echoing down the halls. A red light flared and pulsed. Squinting, Yang's vision swam as the colors were bleached from the room – first bleeding red and then descending into fuzzy shadows.

Reilly was somewhere ahead of her in the hall. She heard the last gate between them and D block buzz open, and half-blind she lurched through the doorway and into the Wilds.

Above, a gravelly voice coughed through the intercom system – barking out words Yang couldn't understand.

Looking around, Yang tried to find CO Reilly but he had disappeared.

"CO!" she yelled uselessly.

Around her, dozens of panicked guards swarmed the walkways of D block. Some marched towards the far end of the cellblock, weapons raised. Yang noticed that most of them were carrying pistols, but one or two had rifles braced against their shoulders.

Two guards slouched towards her, dragging another man between them. Yang's jaw dropped when she saw his stomach hanging open, his intestines dragging on the floor. The COs paid her no heed as they walked past her, still carrying their dead companion.

"AHHH!"

Somebody screamed nearby and Yang ducked as the shout exploded in her ear, raising her hand defensively over her head. Throwing herself to the floor, Yang crawled underneath an assault of red-eyed Grimm as a cackling flock of crows swooped down at her and the guards.

Razor sharp beaks nipped at her exposed skin, tearing at the flesh of her raised arm. Gritting her teeth, Yang pushed up and broke into a sprint – barreling out of the crowd of attacking Grimm.

"DIE YOU FUCKING CORVUS!" shrieked a female guard, firing a salvo of rounds into the black cloud of birds.

Several Grimm dropped out of the flock and smacked into the concrete floor – curling columns of black smoke swirling up from their dead bodies.

As Yang ran, she heard the birds squawking frantically. Looking back, she saw the swarm of Corvus redoubling their attack and the guard disappeared behind a wall of black.

Sliding to a halt, Yang turned back to help her, but before she could take a step back towards the Grimm the flock dispersed, unveiling a still body bleeding on the floor.

"No!" she yelled, sprinting to the guard's side and dropping to her knees. Flipping the CO onto her back, Yang saw that she was still breathing, but blood oozed from hundreds of small, deep cuts.

In the flash of the red emergency lights, Yang caught sight of a nearby guard.

"Help! She needs help!"

The guard turned and dashed up the stairs to the second level of D block.

"No come back!" she yelled, but Yang realized that her voice must have been lost in the cacophony of screams and sirens. Looking down, she saw that the female CO was no longer breathing.

Another quake rocked the Birdcage, shaking the floor underneath Yang. Falling forward, Yang landed heavily across the dead guard's body. Picking herself up, she saw that her clothes were covered in blood.

A deep _boom_ echoed overhead, followed by the slithering sound of rain. Seconds later, a hail of rubble streamed down, showering over Yang's head and shoulders. Yang covered her head with her hand and pushed herself back towards the wall, seeking cover.

Further down the walkway, chunks of concrete from the walls careened down and shattered against the floor.

The vibrating from the impact slowly faded, and when the floor stopped shaking Yang crawled back to the guard. Determined, Yang grabbed the collar of the guard's shirt and, straightening up, she started to pull the guard out of the middle of the walkway.

The floor seemed to jerk violently beneath her feet and Yang nearly fell on her face, catching herself by dropping the guard and grabbing the bars of a nearby cell. Inside the cell, two women screamed and clawed at Yang, gouging her arm with deep scratches.

Hissing, Yang pulled back her arm and looked toward the sound of screeching metal. At the far end of D block by the east-facing wall, a deep hole gaped open. Outside the hole, the darkness wavered and danced. Blinking, it took Yang's eyes a moment to resolve the ruffling shadows into recognizable shapes. Slowly, she realized that what she was seeing were _feathers_.

_It can't be…_

Yang's mouth dropped open and she stared, arm hanging limply by her side. A Nevermore more than twice the size of any she'd ever seen before tore at the wall with its massive beak and gleaming talons.

It squawked madly as it tore away huge chunks of concrete, widening the hole. Swarming under its wings, a horde of Beowolves and Ursa streamed into the prison. Red eyes gleaming gleefully, the Grimm turned and attack the inmates trapped in their cells.

Several of the wolves leapt up to the second floor, but the majority started ripping at the bars on the ground level. The women unfortunate enough to be in the cells closest to the east wall screamed, shrinking back from the bars. Some shoved their bunks and their desks in front of the bars, hoping to make a barrier.

Heedless, the Grimm tore at the bars with their fangs and their claws. Yang watched as a large Ursa reared up onto its hind legs and landed with the full force of its weight on one of the cell doors.

The bars caved inward, and the women inside screamed for help. A guard tried to battle his way toward them, but Yang watched as he was cut down by a trio of Beowolves. Despite the noise and the chaos, the giant bear Grimm wouldn't be deterred from its intended target.

Panicking, one of the women slid into a defensive crouch. Instinctively her aura levels rose, her chest rising and falling with her accelerated breathing. Her cellmate crouched behind her, trying to bury herself behind their furniture.

The bear roared, pushing its snout into the cell. Metal screamed as the bars bent under its considerable weight.

Bellowing a war cry, the inmate leaped forward and lashed out at the Ursa, landing several blows around its eyes and neck. Irritated, the bear swatted at her with a heavily clawed paw. Several swipes raked across her aura.

Spiraling, the inmate fell back, clutching the sides of her head. Yang saw her mouthing the words, "NO, NO" as she fought back the rising levels of her aura. Too late, her head snapped back as the monitor electrocuted her. She crumpled to the floor, defenseless.

All the while her roommate screamed, tears streaming openly down her face. And still the Ursa tore at the bars of their cell.

Terrified, Yang watched as the bear Grimm broke through. Looking away, Yang snapped back to herself. Her hand was tugging at the guard's shirt again, slowly dragging her across the floor towards the wall.

Releasing her grip, Yang stared at her hand.

_What am I doing? I can't help her now…_

Shaking her head, Yang dashed up the stairs to the higher levels – racing up to where there were fewer Grimm. Barreling up the stairwell, Yang's footsteps clanged and added to the din. Grimm roared and squawked, and the giant Nevermore still tore at the wall – wailing terribly all the while.

As Yang climbed up to the third floor, she gained a better view of what was happening to D block.

Grimm still crawled in through the holes opening up in the east wall. Cracks grinned open in the ceiling and flocks of Corvus swirled through the air in a confusing dance of red and black shadows.

Inmates everywhere were screaming, most still trapped in their cells. A handful managed to escape through openings made by the Grimm, only to find themselves set upon by the bloodthirsty creatures who had freed them.

One woman ran at Yang, tearing out her hair as she flew down the stairs. She nearly knocked Yang over the railing as she shoved her way past, screaming towards the exit of D block.

Pockets of navy-clad COs fought against the Grimm, most wielding guns. Some, either improperly armed or out of ammo, lashed out defensively at the beasts with their heavy black batons.

Leaning over the railing, Yang looked down. Each level beneath her was cluttered with more and more bodies, some of them still moaning or mewling in pain. Most were still.

Yang's stomach flipped and bile rose in her throat.

_So many dead, and there's more Grimm coming… what the hell do I do?_

Fighting to stay in control, Yang climbed out of the stairwell and lurched along the walkway. Keeping away from the bars and the desperately grappling hands of trapped inmates, Yang stumbled forward. Passing under a loudspeaker she flinched, the sirens roaring in her ear.

Distracted, she didn't see the small Beowolf leap into her path in time to react. It lunged at her, knocking her onto her back and landing on top of her.

"GERROFF!" cried Yang, her hand latching onto the creature's throat – holding its snapping teeth at bay.

Even though the Grimm was young, it was still heavy enough to push Yang's strength to the limit. Her arm shook violently and nearly buckled at the elbow under its weight. Desperate, she reached up with the stub of her right arm, pushing at its chest.

The Beowolf rained down a series of wild blows with its paws. Its claws raked harmlessly against Yang's aura, but she still felt of the heavy weight of each impact, jarring her to her bones.

Yang's teeth gnashed and her eyebrows knit together.

_Can't keep this up… the monitor will go off if I put much more into my aura…_

Jerking her head up Yang screamed in the beast's face and it reared back in surprise. Pressing the advantage, Yang rolled, tugging the Grimm with her. Using her momentum, she flung the Beowolf away from her, and it slammed into the railing.

Leaping up, Yang lashed out with a series of merciless kicks, shoving the beast between the wide bars until its chest was trapped. The wolf Grimm flailed, only managing to push itself further through the railing.

Roaring, Yang lashed out with one final kick and the Beowulf slipped between the horizontal bars of the railing and dropped like a stone to the floor three levels below. It landed on its back with a sickening _crack_.

Yang's chest heaved as she sucked in deep, shuddering breaths. Holding onto the railing, she stared at the crumpled body of the Grimm below.

She smiled.

 _I did it!_ she thought, the shout of joy echoing inside her head.

"Who's top dog now you stupid monster!" she taunted, panting.

Her huntress training taking over, Yang reined in the feeling of victory – recognizing that the battle was far from won.

Looking around, Yang's smile faded and her lips settled into a grim line. She was still surrounded by ever-increasing numbers of Grimm, unarmed and unable to use her semblance without knocking herself unconscious.

Scanning the walkway, Yang spotted a group of COs back towards the western side of D block. The circle of guards was grouped around two figures who seemed to have taken charge. Breaking into a run, Yang made her way towards them.

Hovering around the edge of the circle, Yang heard a man and a woman in the middle of group giving orders, organizing guards into coherent squadrons – each designated for a specific task like med evac, inmate defense, and a spearhead to charge the massive Nevermore tearing down the walls.

Taking off to relay orders, COs broke away from the group, allowing Yang to elbow her way forward. Breaking through, she starting yelling.

"CO! CO!"

The female CO turned to her and balked, surprised by the appearance of an inmate in their midst.

"You have to open the doors! Girls are getting massacred in their cells, you have to give them a chance to run!" urged Yang, hoping she sounded convincing.

The male guard beside her turned.

"That'd just add to the chaos-"

"Doesn't matter!" spat Yang, cutting him off. Pointing to the floors below, she cried, "Women are dying down there! They can barely even use their aura to defend themselves with those stupid things around their ankles – they're sitting ducks! You can't leave them there!"

The longer she shouted, the higher Yang's voice rose. By the end she was practically berating the two commanding COs.

"She's right, you know," said the female CO, turning to her male colleague.

"There'll be a stampede! More of our guys'll just end up getting killed in the confusion! No way, we can't."

Yang was about to jump in with her argument again when the female CO cut her off, rallying to her cause.

"C'mon Danvers just look at this mess! Are you seriously telling me you're willing to look the other way while we serve these women up to the Grimm?" she yelled, getting in his face. "It's our job to keep them safe, I don't give a damn how scared you are – you can run right now and I won't ever say a word. Go shit your pants somewhere else, I'm opening the cells."

A murmur of assent bubbled up from several of the guards around them, some of them nodding along as the female guard spoke.

Danvers glowered, anger and shame warring across his features. Grinding his teeth, he growled, "Fine. Let 'em out. When we all end up dead it'll be on your head Stevens."

Motioning to a group of three COs behind him, he stomped off towards the eastern wall, cocking his sidearm.

Stevens' eyes narrowed, watching him go. Nodding to Yang, she bent her chin towards the radio on her shoulder. Muttering a few quick words, she relayed the orders to a CO in the command booth, located back near the entrance to D block.

Yang managed to catch most of her words:

"…open all the cells in D block, we're letting them out… don't have time to run it up the chain, just do it. They don't have a chance otherwise… start matching the frequencies, I need you to release the monitors…"

Yang's eyes widened. When Stevens released the transmission, she gathered up the remaining COs with her and started to climb the stairs towards the upper levels where flocks of crow-like Grimm were gathering.

"CO… Stevens?" called Yang.

Busy leading her crew, Stevens grunted to acknowledge her but didn't stop waving the other COs up the stairwell.

"What was that last part about the monitors?"

A grim smile flashed across Stevens' face.

"It's your lucky day inmate," she said, starting to follow the other guards up to the next level. "It'll take a while to get them all on the right frequency, but they're gonna release the monitors on the D block inmates, give you all a fighting chance."

Stevens winked and bounded up the stairs, leaving a stunned Yang standing alone on level three.

A moment later, a buzz hummed through the sea of noises that roared throughout D block and the cell doors clanked open, sliding along their groaning tracks. Inmates scrambled over one another, rushing to get out.

A mob of women in rumpled tan prison uniforms converged on Yang, heading for the stairs. Gripping the rail, Yang turned and zigzagged down the stairs, ahead of the charge.

When she hit the landing on level two, she found herself swept away in the growing tide of inmates. In the confused mass of bodies, women tried to shove past each other – heading in all different directions.

Most women who managed to keep their heads moved west, heading for the exit, but Yang was caught in a panicked group of inmates – mostly Faunus – who headed for the nearest escape: the gaping hole in the eastern wall.

Carried along in the stream, Yang squirmed and fought but found herself swept closer and closer to the giant Nevermore. Its piercing cries shredded through the wail of sirens and screaming inmates – its terrible voice crashing through Yang in great trembling waves.

One of the women next to her crumpled and fell as a block of concrete toppled out of the wall and struck her. Yang watched as she disappeared under the stampede of panicking feet – inmates carelessly stepping over her in their desperate attempt to escape the Grimm.

Yang ducked, crouching low as a flock of crows swooped down at the fleeing inmates. Women shrieked as sharp claws and beaks bit into their skin.

And still the tide moved.

Yang's entire body shook with the great tremors of the Nevermore tearing through the wall and the hair on the back of her neck stood up as she heard the growl of a nearby Beowolf. Yang's eyes cast about, constantly looking for enemies, but she couldn't see through the twisting mass of limbs around her.

Still shuffling in a low crouch, Yang scooped up a piece of debris. Clutching the jagged shard of concrete in her hand, she felt a little calmer knowing that at least now she had some sort of weapon.

Yang nearly fell on her face as a force bowled into her from behind. Staggering to her feet, Yang turned and saw that several of the Faunus behind her were fighting off a Beowolf – many of them wielding fistfuls of broken concrete, having the same idea as Yang.

Another body knocked into her and Yang stumbled backwards. Righting herself and spinning, Yang's eyes widened as she realized where she was.

Yang was standing flush against the eastern wall of the prison, mere feet from where the Nevermore assaulted the Birdcage with its massive talons. For a moment the world slowed and all the clashing sounds of D block faded to the back of Yang's mind.

In front of her was a hole large enough for a person to slip through. Peering through the space, Yang saw the outside world for the first time in weeks, her view unobstructed by bars or latticed windows.

Leaning against the broken wall, Yang closed her eyes and inhaled the night air. The smell of fresh mountain pine needles tickled her nose. A cool breeze danced through her hair.

Opening her eyes, Yang looked at the drop to the ground. The jump was doable – especially with her training as a huntress. A mere thirty feet separated her from freedom.

But as her eyes focused, making out individual shapes in the darkness, Yang's sense of calm faded.

Already several women had dashed through the holes in the wall, trying to escape the Birdcage and the swarming Grimm – only to be caught in a roiling mass of monsters. As Yang watched, a group of women – Faunus and human alike – were encircled by a drove of Ursa and Beowolves.

 _They're not gonna make it…_ Yang thought, heart sinking.

Like a black curtain falling on the world, the Grimm eclipsed the women and hid them from sight. In the distance, Yang heard their frantic shrieks and gurgling screams as they were torn apart.

Yang winced, taking a step back from the wall. But still, she hesitated – not quite ready to give up the taste of freedom.

"Not today, little one," said a voice from behind her. Yang jumped and spun as a hand closed around her wrist, tugging her back the way she'd come.

"Leonie!" she shouted, surprised.

The mountain cat Faunus flashed her a lopsided grin. Yang felt the woman's thick, muscular tail flip by her.

"This way," she yelled, pulling Yang back along the second floor walkway.

"We can't there's too many-"

Yang's protest died in her throat as she turned and saw that several women had fallen under the assault of the Beowolves and the Corvus. As the herd had thinned, the crowd's direction had reversed itself – desperate to find an escape from the Grimm.

Survivors tripped over the bodies of dead and wounded inmates, heading west for the exit. Leonie, still gripping Yang's arm, tugged her along as they raced back along the walkway.

As they hurried down the passage, both women kept their heads on a swivel, eyes scanning for incoming Grimm. Frequently they had to duck as Corvus dove at them in a mad barrage from above.

After one particularly nasty assault, Yang noticed that blood was dripping down on her, leaking from the wounds on Leonie's neck and shoulders. In each wave, the taller woman tended to take the brunt of the attacks.

When they finally reached the stairs, Leonie pulled them to a halt. The stairwell was cluttered with a mass of confused bodies as women fought each other to get by. Underneath their feet, unconscious figures lay strewn over the stairs.

Grunting, Leonie released her grip on Yang and grabbed the railing. Heaving, she vaulted herself over the side and disappeared from sight. Scrambling, Yang followed suit – landing on the balls of her feet nearly twenty feet below.

Ahead of her, Yang saw the tall Faunus barreling through a crowd of inmates swarming the exit of the Wilds. Behind Leonie cleared a small path, although wriggling bodies threatened the close over her narrow wake.

Hurrying, Yang tried to catch up before the opening closed. Wading into the crowd, she slowly fell farther and farther behind, her progress eventually grinding to a halt.

Caught in the middle of the horde of inmates, Yang's vision swam as she was battered side to side by shoving arms and stamping feet. The red light still pulsed in and out, in and out – soaking the room in red and black shadows. Sirens blared together into a continuous drone and a loudspeaker crackled uselessly as a recorded voice shouted senseless words.

Behind her a cry went up, and a raucous chorus of coughing barks and growls nipped at the mob. Women surged forward, away from the encroaching Grimm – pushing Yang closer to the exit.

After endlessly long minutes of desperate shoving and useless screaming, Yang found herself being carried out of D block and into the hallway beyond. Finally through the bottleneck of crammed bodies, Yang broke into a run, heading further away from the Eastern wall.

Mercifully, the gates had been buzzed open – allowing the inmates free passage. As she sprinted, navigating through the familiar halls, Yang saw that inmates from A block had managed to flee as well – the entire eastern half of Briarcliff was evacuating towards the center of the compound.

As she ran, she noticed several Grimm had penetrated deep into the Birdcage – mostly flocks of the small but furious Corvus, diving into the horde of fleeing inmates and coming up with gleaming red blood on their beaks and talons.

Faster than she would have thought possible, Yang found herself bursting into the center of the Briarcliff compound. Barreling through the wide entrance, Yang sprinted along with the mob into the Yard, but the moment she entered the open space she stopped and stared, trying to figure out what she was seeing.

The four massively thick walls that lined the Yard stood firm, but the force field that stretched between their tops had been broken. Grimm flooded down through the opening, black birds humming in droves as the swept over the fleeing inmates like a plague of locusts.

Several Beowolves had even managed to scale the walls, haphazardly dive-bombing into the Yard and barking crazily with a fiendish glow in their bright red eyes.

Yang started running again, dodging through the crowd.

_Have to keep moving – just have to make it out of here… they're coming from the East, B and C blocks should be safer. Just. Can't. Stop. Moving!_

Yang's lungs burned and her knees jarred with the impact every time one of her feet struck the ground. The earth seemed to tremble underneath her, threatening to rush up and swallow her whole.

Looking up, she saw a shadow cover the moon, gliding lazily through sky. Horrified, Yang recognized it as another giant Nevermore, just as large if not larger than the one tearing its way through D block.

The ancient beast blotted out the stars, a haze of red trailing from its massive eye as it passed the prison in profile. The air shook with rumbling _thuds_ with each flap of its wings, air whistling through its long, sharp-edge flight feathers.

The maw of its beak opened and loosed an ear-shattering shriek and all of the Grimm started to bay and howl and cackle and caw, rallying to its cry. As the noise echoed and died, the monstrous creatures renewed their assault on the Birdcage and its prisoners.

Belatedly, Yang realized that she was clutching the shard of concrete so tightly in her hand that her palm and fingers had started to bleed, the hot red liquid oozing sluggishly over her skin.

Pushing her legs to go faster and faster, Yang dashed across the Yard towards the great oak that sprouted up out of the middle of the field.

Reaching the tree, Yang heard a buzzing sound followed by a small _click_ and she looked down at her ankle.

The green light on her monitor still shone brightly, but the brace had loosened around her leg – its two halves unclenching with a small puff of air. All around her, girls from D block stared at their monitors, mouths agape.

Yang bent down and dropped her makeshift weapon, trying to remove the monitor. Dismayed, she saw that the release mechanism had to be triggered by applying pressure to opposite sides of the monitor – like a child's lock. Tears of frustration welled in her eyes and she tried to tear the thing away, but to no avail. She needed two hands.

Looking around, she saw inmates from the Wilds freeing themselves of the devices and striding off into the sea of monsters, auras building rapidly. One woman shimmered and disappeared – melding invisibly into her surroundings. Another seemed to sprout plates of metallic gray armor, covering her skin like scales.

"Somebody help me get this thing off!" screamed Yang, her voice pleading. The women around her either ignored her or didn't hear.

"Somebody please! I need help!"

After a minute of useless yelling, Yang gave up, resigned. Wearily, she took up the shard of concrete in her hand again.

Every screech, every roar, every screaming voice had Yang's hair standing on end. Her eyes constantly surveyed the area around her, picking out dark shadows amongst the mass of panicked inmates.

Somewhere off to her right, Yang's eyes locked on to a sleek, black form slouching through the crowd. Calmly, patiently, the beast stalked its prey, red eyes roving through the buffet of frantic women, arms flailing and feet pounding.

Two muscular, rolling shoulders dominated Yang's view as the creature pawed its way in a circle around her and the other inmates. Eyes studying its face, Yang saw a beard of black and white whiskers swept back from its heavy jaws, curling into thick points. It yowled, tail flicking side to side.

It was a giant cat – a mountain Grimm Yang had learned about but never seen before. The beast – a Coeurl – stalked off to her right, disappearing into the horde – its long fangs gleaming in the moonlight.

Looking up, Yang saw a pair of average-sized Nevermores circling their gigantic cousin who seemed to be leading the charge. A cry from the larger Nevermore echoed down to the field below, and the duo split off from the ancient beast and lowered their wings, diving into the Yard at a staggering speed.

Yang felt a whoosh of air rush by her, and a woman screamed nearby. Cawing and flapping and shrieking dominated her hearing and she fought the urge to cover her ears.

Another gust of air whipped Yang in the face and one of the Nevermores swept up into the air in front of her, dangling an inmate in its talons. The beast climbed higher and higher, until it arched its back and whipped its claws forward – flinging the inmate at the prison wall.

Her body slapped into the wall with a wet _crunch_ and she toppled back down to the Yard below.

Coolly, the bird turned its gaze to Yang.

Yang slipped into a defensive crouch, bracing her back against the tree. She raised the concrete block in her hand, holding it aloft.

 _Easy, find the timing between your breaths_ , she thought to herself.

Her heartbeat roared in her ears and her hand clenched tighter and tighter around the shard of rock. The Nevermore seemed to hang motionless in the air for a moment, and then it jerked into a dive as it whirred towards Yang beak-first.

Waiting as long as she could, Yang stared down the beast and dove to the side at the last second. Lashing out, she struck at the creature's head with her broken slab of concrete.

The Nevermore screeched and tried to pull itself out of the dive. Too late, the beast's left wing slammed into the oak tree. As it thrashed, it tore the concrete weapon out of Yang's grasp, sending the shard flying several feet into the throng of warring bodies.

The Nevermore's bones seemed to buckle and crack when its wing collided with the tree, but the bird managed to right itself and rise back into the air on a gust of wind.

Fighting back the rising panic in her throat that threatened to strangle the breath from her body, Yang watched as the monster circled back for a second attack.

She backed up to the tree again, hoping it would be fooled a second time.

But some light of knowledge gleamed in the terrible bird's eye and it slowed its speed, controlling its descent. Pulling up at the last second, the bird raked Yang with its talons, trying to pluck her squirming body from the ground.

Blindly, Yang fought the gleaming white claws and lashed out at the bird's legs. She landed a solid roundhouse kick on the joint that held up the beast's wounded wing. Shrieking, the creature backed off, circling back into the air above.

Yang shuddered, drawing in deep jagged breaths. From the scuffles in D block and now the Nevermore's attacks, she bled from dozens of gleaming cuts. She shivered, cold seeping through the wet patches of her blood-soaked clothes.

 _If that thing hits me again,_ she thought, _I'm not gonna be able to hold it off. My aura will break at this level, and I can't raise it higher without setting of this damn monitor!_

Yang's thoughts shrieked inside her head as frustration at her inability to wrestle the device off her leg came roaring back.

_I AM NOT GONNA DIE HERE!_

As Yang warred with herself, aura rising dangerously and the light on her monitor blinking orange, the Nevermore circled back into view – swooping lazily around the great oak. Its flight wavered, the damage to its wing forcing it to wobble dangerously.

It screeched and Yang braced herself, the bark of the tree behind her digging into her skin. She felt the incessant flapping of small wings whipping hair into her face but she ignored it, trying not to let herself get distracted by something like a small Corvus when a Nevermore was trying to kill her.

Frustration, anger, fear – it all screamed inside her, and a shout rose to her lips unbidden.

"AHHHaaaaahhhhRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yang roared, baring her teeth like a feral animal, shaking the hair out of her eyes – her scream blotting out the rapid fluttering of wings in her face.

Her eyes trained on the Nevermore, Yang didn't see it when something large and heavy slammed into her leg. Heart sinking, she fell to one knee, steadying herself by propping her hand against the ground.

She had just enough time to look up as the Nevermore's beak opened and screeched just a few feet from her face.

_I'm not going to have time to dodge it –_

Yang panicked and threw up her hand in front of her face. She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut – bracing for the impact.


	12. The Birds II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang is still fighting for her life, and as more and more Grimm flood into the prison that struggle only gets harder. Here's the conclusion of Behind Bars, Volume One.

Behind Bars

Part Twelve: The Birds, _Chapter the Second_

* * *

Yang fought back the urge to scream. The world was the roaring sound of flapping wings in her head, and tiny currents of air brushed blonde strands of hair against her face.

Briefly, she peeked under her upraised arm, seeing a small black bird flying towards the Nevermore.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight, squirming back into the tree behind her. Muscles rebelling, she cringed – waiting for the impact of the monster's sharply curved beak.

For a moment, the world stood still. Yang's entire body tensed, trying to feel the blow before it landed.

But the attack never came.

As the moment stretched on, Yang sensed that something was wrong. Slowly, she peeled her eyes open – trying to see what had happened.

Her vision blurred – the scene in front of her a smeared swirl of watery colors. Yang blinked several times, clearing her eyes.

"What the f-"

Yang's mouth dropped open, staring uncomprehendingly. Standing with her back to Yang, Sasha was slouched in front of her, holding a long, jagged piece of broken metal. The crude weapon was jammed into the Nevermore's throat – angled up towards its brain.

The beast was dead; small wisps of black smoke had already started to rise off of its feathery corpse.

Yang, frozen on the ground, gaped as she studied the woman in front of her. Sasha had yet to say a word – she stood motionlessly, neither removing her weapon nor stepping away from the Grimm's slowly dissolving carcass.

Focusing, Yang's eye fell on the left side of Sasha's lower back. A sharp black _thing_ protruded from her side, globules of thick red blood dripping from its tip.

 _Its beak…_ Yang's thoughts buzzed, eyes widening.

The sharp, curved end of the Nevermore's beak had punctured Sasha's abdomen, just above her left hip. Coughing, Sasha finally moved, shifting her weight onto her right leg as she slumped forward.

"Damn…" she muttered.

After a moment, Yang finally found her voice.

"Sasha… why did you…"

Sasha turned her head to the side, one tawny eye gleaming down at Yang. The corner of her mouth flicked up in a pained grin.

"Orders are orders, Xiao Long," she said, a spot of blood appearing on her lips. "I'm supposed to keep mommy's _special little girl_ from getting herself killed in the big bad Birdcage. Fuckin' half breed…" she muttered, a sarcastic edge coloring her tone.

"What?" said Yang, eyes looking past Sasha, unseeing. "I don't… understand…"

_It can't be… she wouldn't, would she?_

Sasha spat, clearing her mouth of blood.

"Just know that Raven sends her regards."

Yang was stunned. Every inch of her skin hummed numbly, and her whole being felt like it had been condensed into a small, thoughtless consciousness floating behind her eyes.

"Ra…ven…" she murmured, repeating the name to herself.

Sasha winced and hacked, her eyes squeezing shut for a moment.

"Oh for fuck's sake," she groaned, holding her side where the Nevermore's beak was still pierced through her body.

A flicker of motion in Yang's peripheral vision startled her, bringing her attention back to the scene in front of her. Seeming to have almost appeared out of nowhere, Roxie was standing by Sasha, examining the wound.

"You really did it this time," murmured the small, pale-blonde girl.

Yang studied the pair. Both of them looked fairly ruffled – their clothes wrinkled and stained with blood. They must have been fighting tooth and nail to get out of D block and make it this far into Briarcliff.

_No wonder Sasha's aura broke…_

"Yeah well just help me get this thing outta me!" barked Sasha, her nose scrunching up as the beak moved in her side.

Roxie opened her mouth to reply, but all three of them froze when a deep yowl ripped through the air. Trying not to show the fear on their faces, Roxie and Sasha glanced around as the sound faded into a rumbling growl.

"The Coeurl…" Yang whispered, not meaning to speak aloud. An image of the black panther flashed in her mind.

Roxie's head snapped back towards her.

"If that thing's circling us then you need to get out of here," she said, her voice commanding.

Yang looked away from Roxie, eyes falling on Sasha. Doubt shone clearly on her face.

"I'm not leaving you. Not when she's-"

"I can take care of this," said Roxie, her stare calm and cool.

Yang rose to her feet, dithering. She didn't feel any sort of loyalty towards either girl, but something in her wouldn't let her run away from a fight and abandon these women to the Grimm.

"But-"

"JUST GO, Xiao Long!" ordered Sasha. Her eyes gleamed madly and her teeth gnashed together in a grisly imitation of a smile.

Yang hesitated another moment, eyes locked on the beak protruding from Sasha's back. Growing impatient, Sasha tried again.

"Run along, little Yang. Ain't no pussy cat gonna kill me. Just run – GO!" Sasha shouted, her voice climbing above the chaos of the Yard.

Still uncertain, Yang broke into a run – heading for the west end of the Yard. Breaking into a sprint, she left Sasha and Roxie behind, casting a last glance over her shoulder at them. Already, Roxie was starting to maneuver the Nevermore's beak out of Sasha's side. From what Yang could tell, Sasha was swearing at the top of her lungs, but her words faded into the slur of noises in the Yard.

Yang's ears caught another hissing growl from the stalking Coeurl – sounding just as close as before.

_At least I'm leading it away from them… but how do I shake it off my tail?_

Panicking, Yang's empty hand clenched, remembering that she had dropped her concrete weapon. Pushing her legs as fast as they would go, she continued to fight her way through the crowd of confused inmates and warring Grimm in the Yard.

Here and there she caught sight of a CO, but they were almost comically outnumbered.

Yang ducked, covering her head as she ran through a low-swooping cloud of Corvus. She bit her lip as pinpricks of pain blossomed on her skin where their beaks and talons ripped away at her, her aura still suppressed thanks to the monitor jangling loosely around her ankle.

 _The monitor!_ Yang remembered, a shockwave of surprise jolting through her body and nearly bringing her up short.

 _Dammit!_ she screamed at herself. _How could I forget the monitor? I should've had Roxie take it off. How could I be so stupid?!_

Still berating herself, Yang let her anger fuel the muscles in her legs, propelling her through the field. She pushed and clawed her way across the open space, finding that the crowd started to thin slowly as she made it further and further west towards the exit on the far side.

Peeking through the gaps in the horde of inmates, Yang thought she caught a glimpse of the Coeurl, silently stalking its way through the Yard.

All the while, the noise of screaming inmates and howling Beowolves and squawking crows rose and fell like a tidal wave of sound. Every time there was a lull, and the roar of the crowd seemed to fade, the giant Nevermore circling over the Yard would screech and shake the skies with its massive wings.

At the sound of its voice, the Grimm would rally and attack madly, striking out in a veritable frenzy of blurring motion.

Several times, Yang had to alter her course and skirt around trios of hunting Beowolves or dive-bombing Nevermores. Frustrated at the delays, Yang's face settled into frown, her brow wrinkling and eyes glaring.

After several minutes of making almost no forward progress, Yang saw that there was a pair of inmates huddled on the ground about ten yards ahead of her. She was getting ready to circle around them until she looked closer, recognizing them.

 _NO!_ Yang thought, hurrying towards the two women in stained and tattered prison uniforms.

"RAYA!" she shouted, throwing herself to her knees by the girl's side. Dimly, she noted that Freya, the rabbit Faunus, was cradling Raya's head in her lap.

"Raya!" she shouted again, shaking the small girl by the front of her shirt. She was laid out on her back, eyes closed. Concentrating, Yang saw that the girl's chest was rising and falling regularly. She was splattered with blood, but Yang couldn't tell how much of it was hers.

"What happened?" demanded Yang, turning her gaze on Freya.

The Faunus's face was tugged down in an openmouthed frown, tears on her cheeks. She seemed to tremble from head to toe, the tip of her bent ear twitching.

Her lips spasmed with small movements, but not sound escaped her mouth.

"WHAT HAPPENED!" repeated Yang, roaring.

Freya's face blanched white, and still her lips moved soundlessly, desperately trying to form words.

"S-s-she-e-e f-f-f… ff-felll… kn-n-ockedd… ov-ver-er… hit-t-t h… hu…. huh… her headdd-da…" stammered Freya, her voice high and broken.

Impatience flashed in Yang's eyes while she waited for the girl to spit it all out. In the back of her mind, she realized she'd never heard Freya speak before, and wondered if she always stuttered like this.

"How long has she been out?" asked Yang, eyes glancing around and checking for Grimm.

"Fff-f-eww ma-ma-minutess. Wuh-wuh… won't ww-wake uppp… ca-can't s-st-stay…" said Freya, looking around nervously.

Yang's eyes appraised the Faunus.

 _In the middle of all this,_ she thought, _she stayed with Raya instead of running and saving her own skin_.

 _What exactly_ is _this girl?_

Yang shook her head, getting carried away by her thoughts.

"We have to move," she said, catching Freya's eye with a stern gaze.

Freya nodded meekly, still cradling the unconscious girl's head in her lap.

Yang put her hand under Raya's back and pushed her up into a sitting position. Crouching down, she lowered her shoulder.

"Help me get her over my shoulder," commanded Yang.

Still shaking slightly, Freya hurried to help. When Raya was slumped over Yang's shoulder, she wrapped her one good arm tightly around the girl's legs. Grunting, she forced herself to stand. Knees groaning and the tired muscles in her legs screaming, Yang fought her way into an upright position.

"She's heavier than she looks," Yang panted.

Freya's hands hovered uselessly around Raya, not sure how she could help.

Taking a step, Yang felt Raya's weight shift dangerously and the girl almost slipped off of Yang's shoulder.

"Dammit," she growled.

Looking at Freya, Yang examined the Faunus.

_She's too small to be much help carrying Raya, and from the looks of it, she's pretty banged up herself. I don't see how we're going to make it very far like this…_

"No use worrying about it," said Yang, answering her own thoughts aloud.

Freya flashed her a confused look.

Yang shook her head.

"Don't worry about it, let's go."

With that, they marched off across the field. Yang slowly grew accustomed to her burden, but she couldn't run with Raya's weight over her shoulder. A small flock of Corvus dove at them, and Freya batted at them frantically with her hands, protecting Yang's face and eyes.

After a few grueling minutes, Yang's arm started to shake and the muscles in her back and shoulder burned. At one point, Yang thought she heard Raya moan in her ear, but the girl didn't seem to rouse herself back into full consciousness.

 _How hard did she hit her head?_ wondered Yang worriedly.

Sweat beaded along Yang's brow and dripped down into her eyes. Blinking, she stared through blurred vision – the Yard becoming a sea of fuzzy, indistinct shapes and colors.

At one point, Yang heard Freya yelp.

Pointing, the girl said, "C-c-ccc…. Ca-cc-ca-ca…"

Yang didn't need her to finish the word; she already knew what Freya had seen. A purring growl seeped through the chorus of shouts and screams in the Yard.

The Coeurl had finally decided to make its move.

"Kitty cat sure does like to take its sweet time, playing with its prey," muttered Yang. The beast had stalked her in circles around nearly half the Yard. Kneeling down, Yang was forced to let Raya slip from her shoulder and onto the ground.

_I can't fight with her on my back. Hell, I can't fight much at all as it is._

Turning to Freya, Yang said, "I need you to take the monitor off my ankle. I can't-"

Yang's words were cut off as both she and Freya threw themselves to the ground, landing protectively over Raya. A second later, the large black panther soared through the air over them – leaping at where their heads had been only a moment before.

 _Damn – not enough time…_ thought Yang, scrambling.

Rising into a crouch, Yang turned to face the beast, which had landed softly on its padded feet and started to circle them slowly, muscular shoulders rippling and rolling with every step. Freya remained on the ground, covering Raya's chest and head with her own body. Yang heard her whimper softly.

Desperately looking around, Yang tried to find something she could use as a makeshift weapon, but she found nothing.

 _Alright then_ …

Screwing up her courage, Yang did the only thing that came to mind.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GET OUTTA HERE YOU STUPID CAT!" she yelled, waving her arms and taking a step towards the Grimm – trying to startle it.

A bemused look slipped over the beast's face, and it cocked its head curiously at Yang, observing her.

"YOU HEARD ME! BACK OFF! SHOO!"

The mountain cat chuffed deep in its throat, almost sounding like it was laughing.

Yang glanced over her shoulder at the two girls lying on the ground. All around them, inmates were engaged in their own battles, and nobody noticed Yang's plight.

Gritting her teeth, Yang decided to see if she could lead it away from Raya and Freya.

Taking a few steps away from them, Yang kept waving her arms.

"Over here! Over here! Follow me you dumb animal!" she shouted. Yang's heart pounded in her chest, threatening to burst through her ribcage and pulverize her lungs.

For a moment, Yang's pulse jumped and missed a beat, her hope rising.

_It's working!_

Slowly, the beast broke out of its circle and started to follow Yang. Once she had led it a few yards away, back towards the east and away from the exit, Yang broke into a run.

The Coeurl growled, irritated, and gave chase.

 _Now what!_ thought Yang, her legs shaking underneath her as she sprinted back towards the giant oak.

Yang's eye fell on the workout equipment in the Yard and she made a beeline for the rack of weights. Several of them were missing, but Yang saw a thirty pound dumbbell that hadn't been taken up as a weapon by some desperate inmate yet.

Behind her, the Coeurl didn't give up its pursuit, ignoring other women and COs as it tailed Yang.

Sprinting over to the weights, Yang took up the dumbbell in her hand and turned just in time to see the Grimm leap into the air, pouncing at her with its claws aimed at her throat.

Launching herself backwards, she hurdled over the weight rack and landed heavily on the other side. The beast collided with the rack, bashing its face against the rough metal. It screamed angrily, and shoved its paw through the rack, trying to swat at Yang.

Yang crawled backwards and hauled herself upright. Bringing the weight down in a deadly arc, she tried to brain the Coeurl with it, but the Grimm saw the blow coming and wrenched itself backwards out of the bars and dodged the attack.

Yang was gasping for air, and vaguely she heard an ominous _beep beep beep_ emanating from the device around her ankle.

Gritting her teeth, she fought down her rising aura, even as she prepared to clash with the Coeurl again.

 _Not now…_ she thought, concentrating desperately.

The black panther let its jaw hang open in a mocking grin as it started to circle Yang again. Copying its movements, Yang tried to keep the weight rack between them.

For a moment, Yang considered using the weight to bash the monitor and break it off of her leg, but she was afraid that it would take too long and the Grimm would be on top of her before she could get it off.

_What now Xiao Long?_

Before she could come up with another plan, the beast cried out impatiently and launched itself over the rack at Yang. Clumsily, Yang dodged and lashed out with the dumbbell, landing a weak blow on its ribs.

The cat landed, seemingly unaffected. It spun around, its feet barely touching the ground before it leapt again, launching itself at Yang's throat.

Falling back, Yang landed on the weight rack, dumbbell held aloft. The beast's mouth closed around one end of the weight, and that was all that held its deadly teeth at bay. Its heavy, clawed paws gripped the weight rack on either side of Yang as it tore viciously at the weight, trying to rip the weapon out of Yang's hand.

Yang fought to keep her grip on the dumbbell, her mind blotting out everything but that one task. The beast's bristly fur scraped against her skin and its hot, rancid breath poured over her.

The bones in Yang's hand groaned as the Grimm jerked its head violently, nearly tearing the weight from her grasp.

Realizing she was going to lose, Yang decided she would let go of the weight and slip away under the rack before the cat had time to react.

_I hope this works…_

But before she could put her plan into action, the monster's eyes went wide and it released the weight, its jaws dropping open in a silent scream. The sound of something metallic _twanged_ and Yang could hear something sliding through the Grimm's flesh.

For a moment, the Coeurl was still – seeming to hover in place over Yang. Then, its eyes slowly started to slide shut and it tipped dizzily, falling to the ground on its side. It hit the earth with a solid _thump_ , and its tongue flopped lifelessly out of its open mouth.

"It's dead!" shouted Yang. She was panting heavily, and every breath she took drew a sharp sting from a cramp in her side.

"It's dead – how… did… it…" she pushed the words out between gasps, dropping the weight and cupping her hand around the pain in her side.

"You're welcome," said a sharp but soft voice above her.

Yang's eyes widened. Sitting up, Yang lifted herself off the weight rack.

"Adrienne! What – how-" Yang stammered.

Adrienne grinned.

"You don't think they'd let just anybody work here," she said, her hand resting on a cocked hip. In her other hand, she held a long, slender sword that was easily more than half her body length.

"Gotta be able to handle the big, scary inmates if they get out of control. Remember, I get to deal with all the crazies," she said, almost teasing.

"But what are you doing here!" Yang shouted. "Are you insane? You're not a guard it's not your job to-"

"Who said it's not my job?" asked Adrienne, her tone still light but her eyes betraying how serious she was.

"Oh for the love of-" said Yang, an idea forming in her head.

Smiling, Adrienne said, "What? You thought Sasha was the only one your mother had looking out for you in here? Raven's not stupid. Sasha can be… _difficult_ to control."

Fuming, Yang started to stomp off back towards the west exit, stepping over the dissipating body of the Coeurl. She stiffened when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I told you before, I can be your friend in here…" whispered Adrienne's voice in her ear. Yang froze, feeling a feather-light touch around her ankle. After a second, it was gone.

Jerking around, Yang turned to tell Adrienne to back off but she never got a word out.

Adrienne was gone – disappeared into the crowd.

"What is this place…" murmured Yang.

Looking down at her feet, Yang saw that Adrienne had managed to pop the ankle monitor off of her leg in that half-second of contact.

"Well, I guess that's something…"

Unable to suppress a smile, Yang took a deep breath and let her aura rise, calling up her semblance. In the middle of the chaos and death and fear and panic and all the rest of it – an undeniable joy welled up inside of Yang as the heat rushed over her skin. She could feel several of the cuts on her arms and face closing over, and the ache in her muscles soothed.

Practically bouncing, Yang bounded across the Yard – heading back towards where she'd left Freya and Raya. Passing through the mashed crowd of bodies, she struck out at several Grimm as she went, no longer circling around to avoid them.

At one point, she cornered a small Beowolf that had been terrorizing a pocket of wounded inmates, baiting it into a fight.

"HIT ME!" she screamed, almost gleefully.

Brazenly, she let the beast collide with her, knocking her off her feet and sending her flying. Grinning she leapt up and lashed out at it. For a moment they exchanged blows – Yang's strength rising all the while. She still had to be careful – her aura wouldn't defend her forever, and she couldn't fight the way she had before she'd been injured in the Fall.

Heartened by Yang's enthusiasm for the fight, some of the inmates around her joined in, and they managed to beat the Grimm back. After landing a savage kick in its chest, Yang felt its ribs stave in, and the wolf grew still.

Hollering her triumph, Yang broke off in a headlong run, not stopping until she found Raya and Freya.

Freya's eyes widened, taking in the bright yellow glow of Yang's aura. Energy buzzed over her skin and her hair was a beautifully wild tangle of curls that whipped side to side as she ran.

"Let's go!" yelled Yang, barreling towards them. Freya stood up, watching as Yang hefted Raya over her shoulder single-handedly.

Yang laughed, loving the return of strength to her limbs.

 _Easy, Xiao Long_ , she thought to herself. _Don't want to burn out before we get out of here safely._

"C'mon!" she called to Freya, pushing herself into a light jog – careful to keep Raya's weight balanced evenly on her shoulder.

More cautious now that she had Freya and Raya with her, Yang picked her way through the Yard – avoiding Grimm as they headed west. Several times, they had to circle back and skirt around fights that had broken out – inmates vs. Grimm, and even inmates vs. inmates – as the panic and fear took over.

Almost without noticing it, Yang arrived at the western exit. Freya still trailing close behind, the small group navigated through the mob of bodies and made it back inside the buildings of Briarcliff.

Once inside, Yang noticed that the Grimm had mostly chosen to stay out in the Yard where there was more room to maneuver and more victims to pick from. Nonetheless, the occasional Corvus swooped down from the ceiling, attacking the girls below.

After all the confusion of the Yard – and D block before that – Yang was surprised at the number of women who'd managed to escape. She was running amidst a steady stream of inmates heading west and – hopefully – towards safety.

They passed through consecutive halls of abandoned administrative offices, and the horde of fleeing inmates barreled towards the entrances to B and C blocks. After a few minutes of headlong running, pushing, and shoving – Freya, Raya, and Yang bolted into a large open crossway where two of the main hallways bisected.

Yang's eyes widened. Before them was a solid line of COs in a defensive position, ready to defend B and C blocks against any oncoming Grimm. Several guards waved the arriving refuges from A and D blocks through the barricade, ushering them to safety.

As Yang crossed the line, she felt some of the tension leave her body. She nearly stumbled, relief washing over her and sapping some of the panicked strength from her limbs. Tiring quickly, she stopped running and lowered Raya to the floor.

"Help me with her," she said to Freya, who shuffled over and helped support the unconscious Faunus on one of her shoulders.

Taking carefully measured strides, the two women carried Raya between them. Their progress was excruciatingly slow. Yang looked at the COs around them, who tried to direct the flow of traffic.

One guard noticed the injured girl hanging off of them and dispatched a fairly fresh-faced, new recruit to escort them to the med bay. The young guard saw Freya shaking under Raya's weight and quickly traded places with her, helping Yang ferry the girl to the hospital.

When they arrived, the ward was overflowing – it had been overcrowded before the Grimm attacked, and now it seemed like it was minutes away from devolving into utter chaos. The only thing holding it all together was its calm, clearheaded captain at the helm.

Doc waded through the crowd of patients, guards, and hospital staff – issuing orders efficiently and lending a hand wherever she was needed. Her words barked up and over the roaring voice of the crowd, ringing clear throughout the ward.

Working their way over to a makeshift triage station in the hall just outside the double doors of the med bay, Yang and the young CO deposited Raya on a bed of blankets. Immediately, a nurse started to examine her.

A sigh of relief escaped Yang's lips as Raya passed into the able care of another. Looking around the expanded hospital ward, her eyes sought out familiar faces. Not far from them in the triage unit, Yang saw Church and Mirra.

Walking over to them, Yang saw Church sitting cross-legged on the ground, worried eyes trained on her companion. A fresh white bandage was wrapped around Mirra's head, covering one of her eyes.

"Everybody okay here?" asked Yang.

Church jumped, surprised. Turning around, she said, "You startled me, Yang."

"How's Mirra?"

The dark-skinned girl blushed, mumbling something Yang couldn't hear.

"She'll be okay. She's stronger than she looks," said Church. "But her eye, that might need surgery…"

Yang tried to catch Mirra's gaze, but the quiet girl stared resolutely at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Mirra," said Yang, "but I'm glad you guys made it out alive."

"Where's Raya?" asked Church.

"I think she's going to be okay," said Yang – pointing to where the Faunus was being tended to by a nurse.

Church's eyes zoned in on the girl. Not looking at Yang, Church let one of her hands rest on her shoulder – a surprising warmth seeping through Yang's ruined clothes.

"Thank you," she said, eyes wavering.

Yang nodded.

"Have you guys seen Cadeja? I left her here before this all started."

Church grinned.

"Oh, she's here. Just follow the sound."

"What sound?" asked Yang.

"You'll know it when you hear it," said Church simply. Evidently, that was all she was going to say for the time being because she removed her hand from Yang's shoulder and turned back around towards Mirra.

Standing up, Yang figured she'd just wander around until what Church had said made sense.

Pushing through the double doors, she found that it didn't take long.

"Stop tryin' to stick me with that cabrón!" Cadeja's voice shouted amidst the crowd.

Immediately, Yang zeroed in on the telltale sign of long, messy white-gray hair sticking out in spiky tufts. Cadeja was standing next to an exam table, a cowed-looking nurse holding a needle in the air above the Faunus's arm.

Yang picked her way through the room, heading towards Cadeja. As she went, she caught more of the wolf Faunus's protestations.

"I said stop it alright! Don't you see that there's others here who need that more than me?" yelled Cadeja, towering over the crumpling woman in green scrubs.

Turning to march away, Cadeja's eyes snapped onto Yang and she plowed through the crowd around her, making her way over.

"Ave rota! You're alright!" she yelled. Getting closer, she wrinkled up her nose, examining Yang's blood-soaked clothes. "Well, maybe not _alright_ …"

"I'm okay," said Yang. "You?"

"Yeah I'm good, they started me on antibiotics, and then these idiots tried to waste what little pain meds they got on me, tontas…"

Yang chuckled, shaking her head. As Cadeja spoke, Yang noticed that her tongue played tentatively at the holes where her fangs had been.

"Follow me," she said, tugging on Cadeja's arm.

Obeying, Cadeja followed Yang out of the room and back to where Raya was laid out on the floor. When Cadeja saw her sister, slowly coming back to consciousness, she shouted and worried over the girl – yelling at hospital staff and telling them how to do their jobs.

Yang smiled – recognizing a few of Cadeja's favorite curse words – and watched the familial scene. Something about it just seemed so _normal_ , and it helped push back the fear, panic, and exhaustion of the past several hours.

For a while, Yang, Cadeja, Raya were content to just sit and wait out the storm in the triage unit. Church came by to check on them shortly, and then wandered back over to Mirra's bedside.

At one point, a cry went up and roared through the western half of the Birdcage.

"Airships! More airships have arrived!"

Yang and most of the other inmates who were healthy enough to stand peered around as new personnel poured into Briarcliff. The airship docks were on the western side of the Birdcage, protected by the cliffs and therefore unaffected by the Grimm attack.

COs called up for emergency duty flooded in, rushing to find the chain of command. More hospital staff swelled the numbers of people working throughout the ward in green scrubs.

But most notable of all was the arrival of the Atlesian Knights. The automated soldiers stormed through Briarcliff in droves, and dotted throughout were even some of the new Paladins. Leading the charge were Atlas soldiers, all heading east to shore up the defensive line and drive the Grimm out of the Birdcage.

"Ay dios, we're saved…" muttered Cadeja.

"Yeah," said Yang absentmindedly, her attention elsewhere. A lone figure – clearly in charge – had caught her eye.

Arriving with the horde of Atlesian Knights and soldiers was a tall figure clad in white. Her hair was white as well, tied back into a severe bun at the crown of her head. She wore a long, thin sword on her hip. She stood with her back to Yang, coordinating with the automated ranks of soldiers around her.

"Where you goin'?" asked Cadeja as Yang slowly walked towards the woman in white. Cadeja grumbled when Yang didn't bother to give her an explanation.

As she got closer, Yang caught some of the woman's words.

"I need to see the Warden! Where is he?" she shouted, her voice commanding.

Bud – the administrator Yang had seen in the hospital ward earlier – cowered in front of her.

"He isn't here-" he said, looking away.

"Why not!" she barked. "How am I supposed to coordinate with his staff and initiate rescue missions without his all-clear?"

"I'm sure Warden Vincent will be fine with whatever you decide," said the admin, scurrying away before he could be berated again.

The woman shook her head, exasperated.

Yang stepped up behind her.

Unthinkingly, a single word escaped her lips.

"Weiss?"

The woman stiffened, spinning around at the sound of the name. Her eyes raked over Yang, appraising her.

Yang returned her gaze, and her heart sank.

_I was so sure, but…_

The woman did look very similar to her friend, but she was taller and she didn't have a scar over her eye. She had the same white hair and sharp features as Weiss, but the difference was clear.

"I'm Specialist Winter Schnee. How do you know that name?" she asked.

Yang's eyes drifted, not hearing the question.

"You must be her sister," murmured Yang to herself.

Winter's eyebrows rose, and she looked Yang up and down. After a moment, she fixed Yang with a stern glare, catching her eye.

"I wasn't aware that Weiss knew any _criminals_ …" she mused aloud.

Yang flinched, stung by her words.

For a moment, the two studied one another wordlessly. Eventually, Winter broke the silence.

"So," she said, "who the hell are you?"

* * *

Author's note: I AM YANG XIAO LONG! Sooo that's that for Volume One, I'll post the first few chapters of Volume Two here soon! In the meantime, hit me up with any comments/questions/suggestions - I really love getting your feedback!


	13. Breached

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Volume 2 of the story begins, and the Birdcage is recovering in the wake of the Grimm attack. For the time being it seems like Atlas's forces are here to stay - but mounting issues like overcrowding and understaffing aren't going to be solved overnight. Also, what will Sasha and Adrienne's revelations mean for Yang?

Behind Bars, _Volume 2_

Part One: Breached

* * *

_I'll try to include most of the important details you'll need to remember in the chapters that follow, but here's a_ _**brief summary** _ _of events up till now (warning –_ _**spoilers** _ _):_

_Yang was sentenced to eight months for assault in Briarcliff, a prison in the mountains to the east of Vale. Despite her efforts, she gets caught in the rising tensions between the human and Faunus inmates. After her cellmate – Cadeja_ _Álvarez_ _– comes back from solitary confinement (for fighting to protect her sister), all hell breaks loose because the guards pulled her fangs. A riot ensues, and one of the COs is killed. The panic and fear cause a massive Grimm attack – during which Yang finds out that Sasha Orlov, her frequent tormentor and fellow D block inmate, was tasked by Raven to keep an eye on her. Everything seemed hopeless and it looked like the Grimm would completely overrun the Birdcage, but in the end, Atlas military support arrives to lend a hand, led by Winter Schnee._

_Also where you see a * the translation of the passage will be provided at the end._

* * *

"Dad, for the thousandth time stay home! They've only just got the phone lines back up, no way are they gonna be letting any visitors in here. Place is a wreck," said Yang, sighing heavily.

"I know sweetheart, but if I could just-"

"Dad!" huffed Yang. "Stop being so stubborn and listen to me. I. Am. O-kay," she said, slowly emphasizing each syllable.

After waiting for two days to get to the top of the phone list, Yang had spent the past ten minutes convincing Taiyang that she was alright and that rushing off to the Birdcage would be pointless.

In the wake of the attack, the eastern side of Briarcliff lay in ruins. D and A blocks were uninhabitable, and even some of the central parts of the compound had been severely damaged. Many administrators had returned to the Birdcage to find their offices destroyed, practically torn to pieces.

Repairs would take weeks, if not months – Briarcliff was going to be operating at only half its capacity for quite some time. Even with Atlas's military support and an inrush of new CO recruits, work would be slow.

It had taken nearly a week just to get the prison's communication lines back up. They'd restored phone privileges to the inmates almost immediately, but visiting hours were 'canceled indefinitely by order of the Warden.'

Glancing at the timer by the phone, Yang chewed on her lower lip. Her time was nearly up.

On the other end of the line, Yang heard her father grumbling to himself.

"…wouldn't stop a huntsman, not with the lack of bodies guarding that place right now… sure Qrow would know a way…"

Yang rolled her eyes.

"Dad," she said gently.

Taiyang stopped his mumbling at the sound of her voice.

"I promise you I'll call again when I get a chance, and I'll take care of myself," she continued, hoping that he'd finally listen. "I'll write too – I'll even send you a letter to give to Ruby the next time she gets in touch – just, stay put. Please."

"Yang…" he said, his voice still unsure.

The line beeped, indicating that her phone privileges were about to end. Yang squeezed her eyes shut, feeling like they'd wasted too much time.

"You have to go," said Taiyang, resigned.

"For now," she said, voice wavering. "But not for long, I promise – whatever it takes, I'll be in touch. And I will be safe; please don't worry." She smiled, even though he couldn't see. "Go hug Zwei for me."

"I will," he said, tone brightening a little. "I love you, Yang. Be careful."

"I love-"

The line clicked and Yang was cut off before she could finish.

"…you too," she murmured to herself.

Hanging up the receiver, she turned and checked out with the guard on duty in the comms room. Taking down her name and prison number, he recorded her use of phone privileges before pulling out a set of manacles.

With three little metallic _snips_ , he clamped the chains around each of her ankles and her wrist. The fourth manacle he left dangling, uncertain of what else to do with it. Taking an awkward first step with the chain dangling between her legs, Yang let herself be led towards the exit.

_I hate these stupid things. Almost makes you miss the monitors…_

After the ankle monitors had been released and the D block inmates had taken them off, they had been scattered throughout Briarcliff – dropped wherever panicked inmates had left them. Many of them had been damaged in the attack, left useless or in need of repair.

In the meantime, extra measures were taken to help replace the function of the monitors: All D block inmates were cuffed during transport between the various areas of the prison, and were more heavily guarded than prisoners from any of the other housing units.

Reaching the door, the CO handed her off to an Atlesian Knight. The robotic soldier responded automatically, marching Yang out of the room and leading her down the hallway.

The two moved silently through the corridors, Yang shuffling awkwardly a foot in front of the Knight. Occasionally, the automaton would prod her in the back with the hefty firearm it carried in both of its hands, speeding her along.

They navigated through the maze of hallways, people busily buzzing past them. When they passed closer to the Yard, they had to skirt around piles of debris that had yet to be cleared from the Birdcage.

After a few minutes they had made it to the entrance of the Rec Center, but a group of Atlas personnel blocked the doorway. Two Atlesian Knights stood at attention, guarding the entrance on either side. Huddled in a loose circle between them were half a dozen soldiers of varying ranks.

Two soldiers who hovered at the back of the group – nearest to Yang – clearly weren't a part of the higher ups' conversation. They had their heads turned away, mumbling to one another under their breath even as a man with silver hair and gold lieutenant's bars on his shoulders continued to address the soldiers.

As Yang and the Knight escorting her came to stop a few feet away, she heard bits of their muttered exchange.

"We've been on this damn shift for twelve hours already. How much longer do we have to stand here listening to this bullshit?"

"There's not enough men to go around, even with the new recruits to boost CO numbers – great help _they_ 'll be. This place is a shithole…"

"Yeah well it's not even our shithole… it's just like Beacon all over again… Vale leaning on Atlas for yet another bail out."

"No argument there… backwoods place can't even take care of its own. If it weren't for our military they'd all be Grimm fodder…"

"…I mean, what else can you expect from a kingdom as disorganized as this?"

"Not much I guess. Fuck it, I just wanna go home. I-"

The soldier's words cut off as the doors to the Rec Center banged open.

"This room is unsuitable – it won't work," said a voice – clear, commanding, and in control.

The small crowd of soldiers parted in the middle to make room, but Yang knew who was marching out of the Center before she could even see her.

Recognizing the voice, Yang watched for Winter as she strode through the group. The white-clad woman appeared, moving towards Yang with clipped, brisk strides.

"We can't use this facility for overflow housing. The floor is unsuitable and the interior would require too many men to secure it properly. Honestly…" she said, shaking her head. A company of pale-faced, weary-worn men followed close on her heels.

Registering the Specialist's approach, Yang's robotic escort stood up straight and saluted. As the party approached Yang and the Atlesian Knight, Winter's eyes flicked up and studied them. Folding her hands behind her back, she stopped abruptly in front of Yang – bringing the rest of the soldiers to a halt.

For a moment, Winter said nothing – she simply continued to study Yang, who struggled not to look away deferentially.

Worried that he was supposed to say something, the man standing just behind Winter's right shoulder – her XO or second in command – jumped in, thinking that she was waiting for information.

Reading the numbers on Yang's prison uniform, he typed them into a scroll and started to read off her files.

"Yang Xiao Long, inmate number 04-1991. Six months remaining of an eight month sentence for assault. First time offender. Former resident of cellblock D-"

Winter held up a hand – cutting him off.

"I know," she said, eyes never leaving Yang. "Take the men back to headquarters, I'll meet you at the Warden's office."

"Ma'am," he said, nodding curtly. He briefly glanced at Yang, unsure, but he quickly moved to follow Winter's orders and he led the contingent of soldiers and Atlesian Knights off towards the administrative offices. Even the Knight who'd escorted Yang from the phone room followed.

When they had turned a corner and disappeared from sight, Winter seemed to release her breath – shoulders sagging slightly.

"All day long, dealing with complete idiots…" she grumbled, more to herself than to Yang.

Yang tossed her hair, clearing a few errant strands from her eyes. Not sure of what to say, she murmured a quiet, "I'm sorry."

Winter smiled, eyes softening. Relaxing her stiff stance, Winter started to pace around the hallway and Yang trailed her with her eyes.

"I asked Weiss about you," she said after a moment, still pacing slowly. Her long white coat billowed lazily around her legs as she moved.

Winter turned her eyes back to Yang, her gaze settling on her ruined right arm.

"She told me what happened to you during the Battle of Beacon. She also told me your side of the story about what happened during the Vytal Tournament," she said, eyes narrowing. " _She_ seems to believe you…"

Her words trailed off for a moment, getting quieter.

"Or at least, she wants to believe in you enough to ignore what she's seen with her own eyes," she continued, her voice growing louder again.

Yang felt the defensive words bubbling up in her throat – she'd had plenty of people doubt her story before; Winter was far from the first.

"I'll stand by what I've said in the past. I saw what I saw – Mercury was _attacking_ me – I just don't know how to prove it," she said, her chin raised defiantly.

Winter simply smiled. Rather than replying to what Yang had said, she changed the subject.

"I've met your sister before, you know. Ruby – right? She's an… interesting person, to say the least," said Winter. "Can't say I see much of a family resemblance though."

Taken by surprise, Yang didn't know what to say.

Eventually, she murmured, "We have different mothers."

Winter clearly hadn't been expecting that. She seemed to process the information for a moment, her eyes narrowing.

"Well that explains away the _physical_ resemblance, but I wasn't talking about that." She smiled again. "As much as Weiss complains about it, I think she rather likes your sister's… _energetic_ personality. I only met her briefly, but Ruby certainly seems like one of those lucky few whose innocence won't easily be corroded. Unlike some others I could mention…" she said, taking a step closer to Yang.

 _What is she getting at?_ thought Yang, eyebrows furrowing together.

"Yeah – Ruby's special. Her optimism is a gift," said Yang, watching Winter warily.

"That it is," she said.

For a second her smile faded, and she almost looked _sad_. But after a moment she shook her head – as if to clear away her thoughts.

"And speaking of gifts," said Winter, "I have one for you."

Gently she pressed something into Yang's hand. Looking down, she saw that it was a small envelope.

"Weiss asked me to give this to you. She didn't trust our father not to confiscate a letter addressed to the _prison_ , so she had it sent to me," she said, walking away. While Yang stared at the small white envelope, Winter started to follow in the footsteps of her men – heading down the hall in the direction of the Warden's office.

Looking up at Winter's back, Yang said, "Thank you."

Winter's stiff posture had returned – shoulders square and arms crossed behind her back. Just before she turned the corner at the end of the hall, she said something soft – her voice floating back to Yang.

"Take care, Xiao Long."

For a brief moment, Yang was alone in the hallway. Wondering whether or not she'd just made another friend, Yang tucked the letter into her pocket for later and pushed through the double doors into the Rec Center.

Inside, the room was crowded with people. Most of them were inmates – but ringed around the Center were a dozen COs and even a couple of Atlesian Knights. Yang recognized almost none of the guards – and a good deal of them looked fairly fresh-faced and clueless, more or less standard for new recruits.

She hobbled her way over to the guard closest to the door and held out her wrist – waiting for the manacles to be removed. She flinched at the CO's touch – her skin was ice cold. However, the guard made quick work of the cuffs around Yang's wrist and ankles, leaving Yang free to move about the room unfettered.

The low hum of conversation buzzed through the Rec Center as Yang elbowed her way through the different pockets of inmates grouped throughout the wide open space. She felt the floor sloping gently downwards under her feet as she picked her way towards the stage.

As she got closer to the far end of the room, Yang noticed that the groups of women seemed less random. A fairly large crowd stood huddled together – mostly Faunus but with a few human women mixed in. They all watched the stage attentively.

_What's going on? What're they looking at?_

Peering up at the Center's multipurpose stage, Yang noticed several figures. One sat cross-legged on a metal folding chair. Others were forming a line up to where she sat.

"What the-"

Yang's eyes bulged when she recognized the seated figure.

"Church?"

Yang watched as the line of inmates each took their turn before Church. The woman who'd made it to the front of the line knelt, placing one hand on Church's knee, the other held over her heart – making the same gesture that Yang had seen Cadeja make on several occasions before.

Her hand was held in a closed fist with her thumb dividing her middle and ring fingers. Her wrist was twisted so that her palm faced forward and her knuckles touched her chest.

While the woman knelt, Church laid her hands on the inmate's shoulders and closed her eyes. The woman seemed to be whispering something – too faint for Yang to hear. After a moment, Church raised her hands and smiled at the woman, who thanked her and moved on – making way for the next girl in line.

The process was repeated again and again until the line dwindled down and the last girl received her blessing – or whatever it was – from Church.

Afterwards, the congregation bowed their heads. Looking around awkwardly, Yang followed suit – not wanting to cause offense or draw attention to herself.

After observing a moment of silence, Church ended the session by saying a few simple words.

"Let us remember what has come before and what has tried us in these difficult times – but let us not be broken and always remember both the Light and the Dark, our strengths and our weaknesses. Now, we go in peace."

As she spoke, her eyes seemed to un-focus – looking somewhere above the crowd. Shortly after she finished, Yang saw what looked like a dizzy spell strike the girl, and Church wobbled in her chair. To steady herself, Church rested her forehead in her hand and gripped the side of her chair.

Worried, Yang pushed around the edge of the crowd and climbed onstage. By the time she got to Church, Mirra, Raya, and Cadeja had already appeared.

Running over, Yang held out her hand.

"Church, are you okay-"

The words died in Yang's throat as Church's hand shot out and grabbed her around her wrist. Yang hissed in surprise and tried to tug her arm back, but Church's grip held firm. Where the girl's skin touched her own burned and Yang thought she saw something dark flash in Church's eyes.

"Let go!" she yelled, pain searing into her skin from the intense heat.

But a moment later – the heat had vanished and Church's skin was cool. Staring at where her hand held her wrist, Yang's mouth dropped open.

"Church, easy. Come back, it's okay."

It took Yang a second to recognize who had spoken. The words had come from Mirra, who now stood behind Church with a hand on her shoulder. Mirra's voice was surprisingly musical – her words forming around a lilting accent that Yang had never heard before.

Distracted, Yang missed it when Church let go and she was startled to find that her wrist was free. Looking back up at Mirra, she noticed that the girl's eye was still heavily bandaged.

"Hello Yang," said Church, back to her normal self.

Yang couldn't help but stare.

_It's like nothing even happened…_

"Um – what-"

"It's nothing, ave rota," cut in Cadeja. "No te preocupes. Está bien. Church was just a little tired from the service. It was longer than usual."

Cadeja and Mirra looked perfectly at ease, but Yang noticed that Raya looked a little frightened.

_So I'm not the only one who doesn't know what that was._

"What do you mean? What was that service?" asked Yang.

Now Raya's look of fear turned to one of confusion.

 _Ok so maybe I_ am _the only one who doesn't know what's going on,_ thought Yang.

"No sabes?" Raya asked, clear blue eyes boring into Yang. When Yang simply shrugged, Raya turned to her sister – still disbelieving. "Ella no sabe?"

Cadeja shook her head.

"No, she doesn't know." Turning to Yang, she said apologetically, "Raya's experience of the world is limited to what she knows from our people. She hasn't interacted much with outsiders before – she just doesn't understand that not everyone is familiar with some of our customs."

"O-kay…" said Yang, still waiting for an explanation.

While they spoke, Mirra helped Church down to the floor in case she had another dizzy spell and almost fell off the chair. Once she was settled, Church's eyes wandered up to Yang.

"Are you familiar with the Tale of the Two Brothers?" asked Church.

"The old fairytale? I mean – sort of yeah, I guess," said Yang.

"Fairytale," murmured Cadeja, smiling. "If only. There aren't many who still believe – especially in times like these. But the Two Brothers aren't just fairytales for everyone."

"Look around you," said Church, arm waving over the crowd of inmates, many of them still standing near the stage. "Look at all of these women here today. They've come seeking answers, needing to find some sort of reason amidst all the chaos. So many lives were lost…"

Yang winced, remembering. Of the roughly eight hundred inmates from A and D blocks, nearly two hundred had died, and countless more were injured. Many were still in the hospital ward, fighting to survive. On top of that, dozens of guards had died in the attack – following in the footsteps of CO Lowell.

"So what did you tell them?" asked Yang, hesitantly.

"Nothing that they didn't already know," said Church matter-of-factly. Again her eyes seemed to un-focus, looking but not seeing what was right in front of her.

 _Does she ever give a straight answer?_ thought Yang, trying not to show her frustration.

Apparently, she wasn't entirely succeeding because Cadeja cut in.

"Think of it this way, Xiao Long. The Two Brothers were the gods of Light and Dark, and together they made man. We have a piece of each of them within us, and we need to work to be aware of that in our choices and in how we live our lives. It helps us to take some time to reflect on that," she said, catching Yang's eye.

"Okay but what does that have to do with Ch-" Yang's question died on her lips when she saw Cadeja emphatically shaking her head. Clearly, it was something she'd have to ask later.

Confused, Yang quickly glanced at Church. She was still seated on the floor, not quite looking _fragile_ , but she definitely wasn't fully recovered from whatever it was that had happened before.

The girl seemed to have retreated into her own world, eyes trained on the floor. Unselfconsciously, she flexed the bones in her hands and short, sharply curved claws slid out of her nails with an almost inaudible _snick_. For a moment Yang was startled, almost having forgotten that Church was a Faunus.

Absentmindedly, Church started to scratch at the wooden surface of the stage beneath her.

Meanwhile, Cadeja continued her explanation.

"The women you saw here today are struggling with the Darkness. It's what brought the Grimm here in the first place, and it's also what they left here in their wake. Death and destruction – they're both parts of what it means to be alive in this world. Not everything in us comes from the Light, and even then, what is Light can be dangerous too. It's about finding the balance, and reconciling the different parts of yourself to one another."

Yang nodded along, still watching Church. The Faunus had scratched a small picture into the wood. Yang squinted, seeing four interlocking circles carved into the stage. Each of the circles was the same size, and together they formed a perfectly balanced wheel.

"I guess that all makes sense…" mumbled Yang.

"Not everything can be explained in simple, logical terms," said Church – her nails still deepening the carvings of the four circles. "There's magic woven into the fabric of this world, Yang. Never forget that."

Cadeja hummed deep in her throat, nodding her assent, and for the first time in a while, Raya spoke up.

"Desde el nacimiento, tenemos miedo de la Oscuridad. Pero la Luz también puede quemarte," she said, looking at Yang. "Cuídate con la Luz. La Oscuridad es peligrosa… pero no es toda. La humanidad consiste de los dos."*

Yang frowned, struggling to understand the girl's thick accent. She managed to get most of it – from what she could tell, Raya had expanded on the fact that both the Light and the Dark needed to be approached with caution and respect. Regardless, it was clear that her tone was one of warning.

More time had passed than Yang had realized, because a moment later the guards started calling for girls to line up. Their small group turned to say their goodbyes – the D block inmates being ushered to a separate corner where they could be cuffed for transport back to the cells.

Cadeja walked away with Raya for a moment, her arms holding her younger sister protectively. Yang watched them go, knowing that Cadeja would come back to join the D block inmates in a minute. As she always did when she looked at them, Yang felt a pang of homesickness – longing to hold her own sister the way Cadeja held Raya.

Yang stiffened when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. Glancing over, she saw that it was Church. Mirra had disappeared somewhere in the crowd.

"You have a great light inside you," she said. In one of those rare moments of clarity, Church's eyes sharpened and bore into Yang's, holding her in place with their intensity. "But be aware of your darkness, Yang. There are many things in your life that will seek to tear you apart if you let them. Especially in a place like this, they will come for you, and you'll have to be ready to face them."

Not waiting for a response, Church let go of her wrist and left. Stunned, Yang simply stood there for a moment – staring at where Church had held her wrist only a moment before.

Church's last words replayed themselves over again in Yang's mind.

 _They will come for you, and you'll have to be ready to face them_.

A sudden chill made Yang shiver violently, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Something in what Church had said turned Yang's mind back to everything she'd been struggling with since the attack.

_Does she mean… Raven? But – how could she know? There's just no way._

Still confused, Yang wandered blindly over to where the D block inmates were lining up. Not paying attention, she cut into the line ahead of several other girls.

"Oh, come on little sister – I know you don't like me, but cutting in line? I mean, what are we, twelve?"

Unable to stop herself, Yang rolled her eyes heavily.

_Why the hell can't I look where I'm going…_

Her eyes turned inward, Yang hadn't noticed that the two girls she'd cut in front of were Sasha and Roxie.

 _Even without the limits on her aura from the monitor, it's a freaking miracle Sasha isn't still in the hospital ward_ , thought Yang – remembering the sight of the Nevermore's beak protruding from Sasha's back. _She must've really pushed herself to get out so soon. Just my luck…_

When Yang didn't turn around or respond, Sasha took a step forward and leaned in close. Her mouth hovered by Yang's ear and she draped on arm over her shoulder.

"It's okay. I'll forgive you – head's probably all scrambled from listening to that lot muttering old wives tales," said Sasha, gently angling Yang towards the group of A block inmates. As they watched, Cadeja finally split off from the rest of them and started to head to the back of the line of girls waiting to be cuffed.

Exhaling heavily, Yang tried to shake Sasha off. A satisfied grin spread over Yang's face when her elbow connected with Sasha's side and the girl hissed, drawing in a sharp breath.

_Still a little sore, huh?_

Not paying attention to Roxie, Yang wasn't prepared for the small girl to step around them and get in Yang's face. The shorter girl gripped Yang's chin in her hand, forcing her to meet her gaze.

"Stop it," she hissed, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Wouldn't want to draw any unwanted attention to ourselves." As she spoke, she made a point to look at both Yang and Sasha.

Stepping back, she released her grip on Yang's face. Yang's eye followed Roxie's gaze to the nearest guard – a new recruit with his hand on his nightstick. The CO was incredibly young – perhaps not much older than Yang – and he looked petrified, liable to lash out at the slightest hint of unrest.

Resigned, Yang stopped struggling against Sasha. Feeling like she'd won, Sasha leaned back onto Yang, letting her chin rest on the girl's shoulder.

"We should have a chat sometime, little Yang," she said, voice cooing in her ear, "without all your Faunus friends around."

"I think I'll pass. Whatever it is that you're involved in, I really don't want any part of it," growled Yang through her teeth.

"Really?" said Sasha, sounding mock-offended. "I would've thought you'd be dying for answers…"

Yang frowned, not wanting to admit that Sasha was right. Raven was like a big blank spot in her life – wherever she showed up, a million questions followed.

"Regardless, there are other ways to motivate you. If you don't want to talk, I could always drop in on your cellmate. You seem particularly attached to that one, it's a shame what happened to her."

"You don't sound too broken up about it," retorted Yang.

"No, I guess I'm not," said Sasha, smiling. Her voice growing more serious, she whispered low enough so that only Yang could hear, "Don't think for a second that that wolf bitch isn't at least a little broken after, well…"

Sasha paused and snapped her teeth together emphatically in Yang's ear.

"She's vulnerable right now. Especially with that little pup of hers – what's her name? – Oh, yes. Raya."

"Back off Sasha. You need to leave them alone," said Yang, struggling to control her voice.

"Oh I will. Nothing has to happen to them, it's all up to you."

With that, Sasha let go of Yang and stepped back, Roxie following suit. The three of them remained silent as they moved up the line, and each took their turn being cuffed for transport back to B block, where the former residents of the Wilds were being housed.

* * *

"You doin' okay, ave rota?" asked Cadeja.

They were back in their cell – or at least, the cell they shared with two other inmates in B block. Yang sat on one of two mattresses the guards had dragged in for her and Cadeja. All she had was a blanket and a pillow, plus a few of her meager possessions tucked underneath – including her letter from Taiyang and now the one from Weiss as well, still unread.

Yang stared blankly at the wall opposite her. She had been in a haze ever since her encounter with Sasha.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, not really looking at Cadeja.

"Like I'd believe that," muttered the Faunus.

Cadeja eyed the other two women in their cell. Wondering if maybe Yang didn't want to say anything in front of them, she switched tact.

"Dígame. Qué pasó? Te vi con Sasha antes, es sobre ella?"

Before Yang could come up with a response using the few phrases she could remember that would satisfy Cadeja without actually telling her about the threats against her and Raya, another voice spoke up.

"Secrets, secrets are no fun…"

Yang sighed heavily.

 _Here we go again_ , she thought, bracing for another argument. _What are the odds that we'd end up roomed with_ Darrah _of all people…_

With the destruction of most of D and A blocks, inmates had been squeezed together in what little space was left. D block inmates had been doubled up into cells with B block, while A block was bunked with C.

With hundreds of inmates now roomed in sets of three or four in cells meant to hold only two, overcrowding was a growing issue that got worse with each passing day – especially as more and more women were released from the hospital ward.

It was even worse here in B block, because more women from the Wilds had survived than from A block. Once the monitors had come off, they'd at least been able to defend themselves. A block had fewer trained fighters, and as a result, their numbers made up many of the casualties.

"It wouldn't be a secret if you'd bother to learn a language other than your own," snapped Cadeja. "You're the librarian, ain't you? Pick up a dictionary and learn somethin' why don't ya."

Yang slapped her palm against her face.

_Every damn day…_

Cadeja and Yang had counted themselves lucky when they found out they were still roomed together – or at least, they had until they'd shown up at the cell to find themselves faced with Darrah.

Putting Darrah and Cadeja into a tiny, overcrowded room… it wasn't such a great idea.

"I could do that. But you know what would be a hell of a lot simpler?" quipped Darrah. " _You speaking English._ "

Yang heard Cadeja growl lowly.

Looking away, Yang's eyes settled on the fourth girl in the cell. She'd been Darrah's roommate since before the attack – and the poor girl seemed mildly afraid of her. Yang couldn't tell if the girl had always been naturally quiet, or if she'd been dealing with Darrah long enough to know that silence was her best defense. All Yang knew of the girl was that her name was Laurel.

Grumbling and rolling over onto her side, Yang laid down on the make-shift bed.

"Guys, can we not do this tonight?" she said – cutting off whatever retort Cadeja was firing out in her rapid accent. "I have a headache and it's almost lights out."

Cadeja muttered something unintelligible and laid down on the mattress set up next to Yang. Up on the top bunk, Darrah huffed and slammed shut the book she'd been reading. Through it all Laurel said nothing.

True to Yang's words, it was only a few minutes before the lights shut off – the little voices of the humming fluorescents all fading as one.

The din of conversation was slower to disappear from B block – hundreds of girls all crammed in together not quite settled in for the night.

Draping her arm over her upturned ear, Yang tried to block them out and she squeezed her eyes shut. She frowned, knowing that it would be quite some time before she managed to fall asleep.

After a while, she couldn't so much hear as she could _feel_ Cadeja snoring lightly on the mattress next to hers. A low vibration thrummed through the metal coils. By then, many of the girls in B block had drifted off to sleep – including the three in the cell they shared with Yang.

Pulling a blanket tight around her shoulders, Yang stared into the darkness – seeing only quivering shadows that danced and fell like motes of dust.

Truly alone with her thoughts for the first time all day, the sight of the shadows brought a memory of Church's words to Yang's mind.

" _Be aware of your darkness… they will come for you… you'll have to be ready to face them."_

_What did she mean?_

The question buzzed around Yang's head like a gnat, worrying away at her and keeping her from falling asleep.

_Raven, Sasha, Adrienne – I don't understand any of it._

_But is that all Church was talking about? She said "they" – is it more than just that? What am I missing?_

Yang went back and forth, arguing with herself.

_I'm being ridiculous – Church doesn't have any special powers, even if Cadeja seems to think so. There's no way she could know…_

_Right?_

Trying to focus on anything else, Yang listened to the small sounds in the darkness. Straining, she thought she could hear the pattern of one of the lark's songs somewhere in the distance, but after a moment she realized that she must have imagined it.

Since the attack, she hadn't heard the lark's singing. She wasn't even sure if she – whoever _she_ was – had survived. It was entirely possible that she had been killed by the Grimm.

It wasn't until several nights later, alone and haunted by nightmares – new and even worse than the ones she'd had before about the Fall of Beacon – that she realized the high, soft voice had become one of the few small comforts she had here in the Birdcage. Without it, she felt even more alone than ever, like she had lost something she cherished.

Determined to chase the demons away, Yang closed her eyes and let her memory of the lark's melodic voice fill her mind. Slowing her breathing, she let some of the familiar tunes wash over her thoughts – hearing the notes even if she didn't know most of the words.

At one point she found herself humming one of the songs under her breath, but she stopped when she realized that it was the song of La Llorona – the mother who'd massacred her own children for the shame of what they were, and what she had made them to be.

 _Fucking halfbreed_ , hissed Sasha's voice in her mind – ruining the song.

 _Well that worked well_ , grumbled Yang to herself.

Lifting herself up, Yang grabbed her pillow and dropped her head back down onto the mattress. Squeezing the pillow in her closed fist, Yang slammed it down on top of her head – trying to block out the sounds of the prison.

 _Just go to sleep dammit…_ she thought, almost pleading with herself.

_Tomorrow will be better than today, it has to be…_

Those last few words became like a mantra, and she repeated them over and over again to herself.

_It has be, it has to be, it has to be…_

For hours she lay like that in the darkness – lulled by the repetition of the phrase – and somewhere in the gentle crawl of time she drifted off to sleep, a small frown still on her face.

* * *

* **Translation** : From birth, we are afraid of the Darkness. But the Light can burn you as well. Be careful with the Light. The Darkness is dangerous, but it's not everything. Mankind consists of them both.


	14. The Boogeyman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares, Weiss's letter, and trouble in the Yard - life in the Birdcage isn't getting any simpler for Yang, and she may be starting to feel the effects.

Behind Bars, _Volume 2_

Part Two: The Boogeyman

* * *

_Her footsteps echoed in the courtyard. It was night. A breeze played lazily with loose strands of her hair._

_Mixed into the steady beat of her boots on the pavement, the song of wind chimes whistled in her ear. The notes were high and sweet, plucked from the chimes with no rhyme or reason._

_Yang listened to their little voices, liking the way they melded with her footsteps – a chorus of simple sounds._

_The courtyard was wide and open, with a large, silent fountain in the center. Ahead, Yang could see the tower of Beacon Academy._

_Hundreds of red leaves shuffled in the wind, rustling darkly. They murmured in the night – whispers of a warning._

_Someone else was there._

_The figure was dark and indistinct. Yang squinted, wondering._

Who is she?

…she?

 _The clip of her boot heels sped up, striking the ground with a_ clack, clack, clack.

_And Yang walked faster._

Who…

_Yang swung her arms faster, her legs moving numbly beneath her. Her hands curled into fists, something sinking in her gut like dread. She flinched, expecting a blow – but it was just the wind._

Wait… something's wrong…

_Her mind moved sluggishly, slowing her steps._

My arms…

_Yang looked down at her hands._

This is wrong…

_Her thoughts swirled in broken circles and she glared at her upturned palms in frustration – trying to sew together the loose ends. It was like trying to stare through a cloud – she knew something was wrong, she just couldn't quite see what…_

_Yang raised her right hand in front of her face. Slowly, she touched her forehead, her cheeks, her lips…_

No… this is a dream, just a dream…

_Yang lowered her hand and closed her eyes._

_For a moment, she let the little sounds of the wind chimes be everything – she let each note be the night, the courtyard, the leaves, and the figure. She let them be her hands and her eyes and her nose and her lips._

_The song echoed sharply in her mind, and the last note broke like the shattering of glass._

_She winced, hands covering her ears._

" _NO!" she screamed, her mouth strangled around the silent word._

_She squeezed her eyes shut and a gust of wind billowed in her face. The squall bellowed – its voice thundering like a crashing wave._

_And then there was silence._

_The air was still; the world was a closed room of sudden soundlessness._

_Yang closed her mouth and opened her eyes, lowering her hands._

_She was still in the dark courtyard – looking at the faceless figure, the_ "she" _she couldn't name._

_After a moment, the wind chimes and the leaves murmured back to life – softer and gentler than before._

" _Who are you?" asked Yang, finding her voice. Her words sounded as if they came from everywhere and nowhere – said by someone other than her._

_The figure tilted its head, black hair billowing around her shoulder. A small white hand with slender fingers reached up to the mask covering its face._

_Yang stared, mouth flattening into a thin line. She watched as the hand pulled the mask down._

_The face that looked back at her was heart-shaped, like hers. The skin was a pale, glowing white, like hers. The eyes were a crimson, bloody red – like hers._

" _Yang," she said. "We have a lot to talk about."_

_Yang sucked in a breath – a name forming on her lips – but a wall of black slammed down over her world. The woman disappeared and Yang threw up her arms in front of her face, fear and instinct taking over._

_Something moved in the darkness, and Yang knew that she wasn't alone._

_The voice of the wind chimes died; in their place something shuffled. It was lighter, softer than the leaves. The sound flittered and twitched; something slithered through the blackness._

_Yang lowered her arms, peering into the dark – there was something… moving…_

_The huge sound of something snapping open like wind-swept curtains flapped in a sudden gale. The fabric of the world ripped open, and a shaft of moonlight fell on Yang's face._

_Yang tried to shade her eyes, raising up her right arm but she stopped –_

My hand…

_Her right hand was gone. All she saw was a bloody stump hanging uselessly from her shoulder._

_The bite of fear clamped down on her heart with cold teeth like ice. Eyes wide, Yang peered into the pillar of moonlight._

_Where the darkness had split open, two massive wings curved around Yang – surrounding her on all sides. And in the middle of it all, staring back at her were two beady red eyes._

_They glowed and shimmered and danced like a ghost of light that couldn't keep still in the wind. Then, they squinted into sharp little slits._

_The groaning sound of tearing metal shrieked, and a big, black beak screeched open. Inside its maw was a sharp little tongue, angled like a knife. A sound like no other shook the world, and the hot, wet breath of the impossibly large raven poured over Yang._

_And she screamed. She screamed, and screamed, and screamed – her lungs burned and her ribs cracked, and still she screamed._

" _Ave rota," a voice whispered in the darkness._

" _Ave rota, wake up."_

_Yang struck out blindly with her left hand, stumbling around in the darkness. She'd lost sight of the beak – where was it?_

" _Yang! Yang, stop!"_

" _Somebody shut her up! For fuck's sake-"_

" _GO AWAY!" bellowed Yang, using up what little breath she had left in her searing lungs. When she inhaled it was like fire sliding down her throat._

" _Shh, shh, shh. Ave rota – stop. Wake up. It's just a-"_

" _Nope, you had your chance. We're doing this my way now."_

_The voices argued and Yang's fingers scrabbled against the skin around her eyes – the feathers of the giant bird danced in her face._

" _NO DON'T!"_

_A voice very near her ear yelled, and something heavy struck Yang's head. A sharp corner bit into her temple, and something hot like blood trickled out onto her skin. A pulse throbbed in her head where she'd been stuck, and slowly the world of black faded…_

"Darrah you bitch, you didn't have to do that! I had it under control!" barked Cadeja, her lips pulled back in an open-mouthed snarl.

Darrah snorted.

"Real scary, Álvarez. All bark and no bite."

Cadeja snapped her jaws shut – eyes widening in surprise. She'd forgotten the holes in her mouth for a moment, not remembering that her fangs were gone.

She growled low in her throat and with a visible effort, she turned her back on Darrah. Instead, she focused on Yang, who was lying with her head held in her hand on the mattress beside her.

"Ave rota, let me see," she said, prying away Yang's hand.

Yang shivered at her touch. The dim light of the fluorescents burned in her eyes. Her vision was blurry, and what little she could see was tinged red. Slowly, she let her hand be moved.

Cadeja hummed deep in her throat.

"Just as I thought. You're fine, see?" she said, holding her hand in front of Yang's eyes. "No blood."

Dimly, Yang remembered the sensation of something hot leaking out onto her skin.

_I must've imagined it…_

"See that? She's fine _and_ now she's quiet. It's a win-win," said Darrah, her voice smug. But after a moment, she mumbled something else that sounded like 'The fuck is wrong with her eyes though?' but Yang wasn't sure.

"Oh would you shut up?" hissed Cadeja. "Just roll over and enjoy the five whole minutes 'till count cabrona."

Darrah grumbled something under her breath and flopped back down onto her bed, whipping the sheets over her head dramatically. Laurel yelped as the frame of their bunks shook with the sudden motion.

Meanwhile, Cadeja guided Yang up into a sitting position on the mattresses. Yang's eyes were still watery, not yet adjusted to the light.

"Raven…" she whispered. "It was Raven, she – she…"

Cadeja's ears twitched and one of her eyebrows arched up, confused.

"Raven? Who's Raven? What're you mutterin' about, Xiao Long?"

Yang looked up at Cadeja, as if she was only just registering that she was there. Her ears perked up, listening to the way Cadeja's accent trilled the 'r' in Raven's name heavily.

"Raven?" said Yang, still dazed.

"Yeah, Xiao Long, Raven! What are you talking about?" asked Cadeja, trying not to let her frustration show.

Something clicked inside Yang and that last piece of her that was still trapped in the dream woke up. She blinked and the red tinge vanished from her sight, her eyes shifting back to lilac by the time they reopened.

She shook her head once, her hand coming up to rub her eyes.

"Nothing – it was nothing. Just nonsense. Must've been the dream I was having," said Yang.

"How much longer you expect me to buy that crap? Oye, rubia – I'm not stupid. You've been out of it all week – having bad dreams at night, zoning out during the day – what the hell is goin' on with you? Was it the attack? Was it Sasha? Did somethin' happen?"

Roughly, Cadeja reached up and pulled Yang's hand away from her eyes, forcing her to meet her gaze. Her dark green eyes were steady, unyielding.

Yang struggled to keep her expression blank.

"No," she said evenly. "Nothing happened. It's fine."

"Say you're fine one more time, ave rota," said Cadeja, her voice low.

"Or what?" asked Yang.

"Or I'll just have to beat it out of you," she said, a small smile curling up at the corners of her lips. After a moment, her features slid back into a serious mask. "Honestly, Xiao Long, you take your time with it but if somethin's botherin' you that much, you tell me about it, okay?"

Yang relented, letting her eyes drop and her mouth tug down into a frown.

"Okay, I promise. We'll talk."

Cadeja nodded.

"Alright then," she said.

The speakers in B block buzzed and Cadeja stood up, tugging Yang up with her. Distantly, a guard was yelling for the girls to line up for count. When Yang stood up, she finally realized what it was that Darrah had thrown it her – it was a book. Bending down, she picked it up and tossed it onto the desk crammed into the back of the cell.

Turning around, she felt Darrah shove past her roughly as the four girls went to stand at the entrance of the cell for count. Doing her best to ignore Darrah, Yang waited for the guards to make the rounds.

After a minute, a CO marched down their floor of B block, checking girls off as he went. Following behind him, an Atlesian Knight stopped to cuff each of the girls that the guard indicated was from D block. The two passed by quickly enough and after they reached the far end of the cellblock, the CO called out instructions to the inmates.

"B block inmates!" he bellowed, his voice deep. "Hit the showers!"

A bustle of noise bubbled up as the girls from B block lined up behind Atlesian Knights who swept through the rows of cells. A minute later and the scattered columns of girls disappeared in the direction of the bathroom.

"D block!" he shouted, voice climbing above the crowd. "You've got the first meal slot. Line it up for the mess hall!"

Cadeja stepped into the walkway outside their cell, but Yang called out to her.

"Hold on, just a sec."

Yang ducked backed into the cell and crouched down by the head of her mattress. Fishing underneath the edge with her hand, she pulled out Weiss's letter. Hurrying, she ran out of the cell to catch up with Cadeja, careful not to trip over the chain connecting the cuffs around her ankles.

The wolf Faunus cast a questioning look in her direction, eyeing the envelope.

"Haven't had a chance to read it yet," said Yang, shrugging as she stuffed the letter in her pocket. "It's from a friend of mine."

"You have friends?" asked Cadeja, echoing a joke Yang had once made at her expense.

Yang rolled her eyes heavily and stuck out her tongue.

"Good one," she said.

"Hey you two! Keep up!" barked a guard.

Pretending to look chastened, Cadeja made a face and hurried to catch up to the line of girls in front of them. Smiling, Yang followed suit.

* * *

All through breakfast, Cadeja kept eyeing Yang, but she didn't ask any more questions. For now at least, she seemed content to wait for Yang to decide it was time to talk.

Yang's scrambled eggs – or at least, a cold, grayish imitation of scrambled eggs – sat half-forgotten on her tray. Her eyes strayed over the letter in front of her, the page crumpling between her fingers where she held on just a little too tight.

Rereading the letter, Yang couldn't help but smile at Weiss's always-perfect penmanship. She never was one to forget about "proper form." Eyes travelling back to the top of the page, she read:

_Yang!_

_I'm so sorry I haven't been in touch sooner – living back at home has been… difficult._

_But when I heard about the Grimm attack, I knew I had to find a way around my father. I was so worried…_

_But of course you're okay! I wouldn't expect any less from a member of team RWBY._

_Winter tells me she's seen you – I'm so happy that you've finally met! She can be tough to get to know, but you can trust her. She's a bit of an 'ice queen' as you would say, so I guess we have that in common._

_I've asked her to keep an eye on you for me, but of course she'll be busy helping the prison organize the reconstruction. She says she'll do what she can!_

_Unfortunately, this might be the only time I can get in touch for a while. I'm leaving Atlas, whether my father likes it or not. He doesn't have the power to keep me here forever._

_I think I'll try to find Ruby and the rest of team JNPR. The last I heard from her they were still to the east of Mistral proper. I'd try to find Blake too, but I have no idea where she's run off to._

_Have you heard from her?_

_My guess is probably not. But if she were going to reach out to anyone, of all people I think it'd be you._

Reading Blake's name she frowned, a little frustration and anger mixing in with the sadness she felt every time she thought about her partner. Once again, Blake Belladonna had disappeared without saying a word to anyone, not even her teammates.

Trying to push those feelings down, Yang turned the page over and kept reading.

_Honestly Yang, I hope you're doing okay in there. I only wish that I could see you. Who knows? Maybe we'll see each other sooner than you'd think._

_I just can't help it sometimes… pretending that nothing's changed and everything is back to the way it was before._

_It's easy to imagine we're all still at Beacon – going to the classes that we hate, trying to study while Ruby's blathering on about board games, attending dances and movie nights…_

_We all knew we were there to train, to get ready to face the Grimm and protect our people, but despite all that – those were some of the happiest days of my life._

_Even when I'm stuck here in Atlas, all I have to do is remember and it's like I'm in an entirely different world. Sometimes it's like I can practically hear you making puns and laughing at your own jokes._

_Oh, and that reminds me. Speaking of PUNS –_

_Yang Xiao Long, I know how fond you are of puns – for reasons that I will surely never understand – but perhaps Briarcliff isn't the best place for them?_

_The last thing I need to hear is that you got into a prison brawl with some ruffian over a joke about how if you stole their coffee you'd be 'mugging' them._

_Needless to say, if you get yourself killed for the sake of a bad joke I'll never forgive you. Remember that._

Yang couldn't help but chuckle at the empty threat. She could practically hear Weiss's voice chastising her through the words on the page. When she laughed, Cadeja raised an eyebrow at her – wondering what was so funny – but Yang simply shook her head and finished reading the letter.

 _Please, take care of yourself Yang. Six months may seem like such a long time, but team RWBY is a four woman squad and we_ are _getting back together – just try to hold on to that. I know I am._

_Yours,_

_Weiss_

After she'd read it through a second time, Yang couldn't help but smile. Blake stuff aside, it was good to hear from Weiss – to have something so _normal_ , so close to home.

Still grinning like a fool, Yang noticed that Cadeja was giving her another concerned look.

"Somethin' funny, ave rota?"

"No not really, mildly punny at best," she said, still smiling.

"Mildly what?" asked Cadeja, her eyebrow arching up even higher, disappearing under her shaggy white hair.

"Never mind it's nothing," said Yang, shaking her head. "It's just good to have a reminder of who I am outside these walls…"

Still eyeing Yang warily, Cadeja muttered, "Whatever you say, rubia. For a second there I was a little worried – either my English was getting worse or you were getting crazier."

Yang tried to smile reassuringly. "No it's all good, I – hey! What do you mean crazi _er_?" she spluttered.

Now it was Cadeja's turn to smile.

Laughing to herself, she said, "No importa. Estás bien, Xiao Long. I ain't lookin' to start nothin'."

Yang took a moment to think.

"Well maybe I am."

Cadeja had started to bite down gingerly on the burnt crust of her toast – careful not to cut the sensitive holes in her gums. When she heard Yang speak she stopped and nearly choked on a half-mouthful of food.

"'Scuse me?" she said, coughing.

"You heard me," said Yang, eyes serious. "Maybe I'm looking to start something. Just you and me – we got rec hour in the Yard coming up after this don't we?"

"Yeah but da fuck you talkin' bout, Xiao Long?"

"You wanna know what's been bothering me lately? Why I keep screaming and waking all of you up in the middle of the night? Well I'll make a deal with you. You spar with me in the Yard, help me learn how to fight with _this_ ," said Yang, raising her mutilated right arm, "and I'll tell you what's going on."

Cadeja leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. She eyed Yang, appraising her for a moment.

"There's one problem with your little scheme," said Cadeja. "The guards ain't gonna sanction a fight between two inmates. They see us sparring and they're bound to go ape shit on us – especially any hair-trigger newbies."

"Damn," spat Yang. "I hadn't even thought of that." Her face fell and she studied the table in front of her, trying to think of a solution.

Cadeja chuckled.

"It's okay, Xiao Long. Now I'm just givin' you a hard time. I can take care of the guards and any… interference we might run into."

Yang looked expectantly at Cadeja, waiting for her to keep explaining but apparently that was all she was going to say on the subject – at least for now.

* * *

Rain fell on the ruins of Briarcliff.

Standing out in the Yard under the recently re-formed force field that stretched across the top of the walls, Yang listened to the patter of raindrops, falling on the Birdcage like a barrage of bullets.

"Miserable day…" she muttered.

Cadeja hummed in her throat and nodded, agreeing. Absently, she rubbed her wrists where the cuffs had been during their walk from the cafe to the Yard.

Slowly, they walked across the open field towards the great oak tree. Yang looked around, noticing patches of newly tamped down earth where the grass had been torn up during the attack.

As they picked their way across the Yard, Yang's eye fell on a new CO – or at least, one that she hadn't seen before. Following her line of sight, Cadeja narrowed her eyes.

The guard was a woman, tall and slim. She had long legs like a runner's, and her skin had a deep olive tone to it, perhaps a shade darker than Cadeja's. She had beautiful if sharp features, but the one characteristic that really stood out about her was her hair: It was a prickly mass of short, tawny spikes that fell in a neatly kept sheet all the way down her back.

"Well that's different," said Cadeja under her breath.

"Yeah," said Yang, "I don't think I've ever seen a _hedgehog_ Faunus before…"

Cadeja shook her head.

"That's not what I meant. They don't usually hire Faunus guards – they must be even more desperate than I thought."

"Why not?" asked Yang.

A mangled smile spread over Cadeja's lips.

"This may not be Atlas, but there's still plenty of room for racist pricks to worm their way to the top of the system," she said.

Even though they were well out of earshot, the CO turned her head and seemed to meet Yang's eye for the briefest of seconds. After a moment, she looked away and went back to scanning the Yard.

Embarrassed, Yang's cheeks flushed and she let her eyes drift – looking anywhere but at the Faunus guard.

"Hm," said Cadeja, frown lines creasing her forehead. "Best to stay away from that one for now. Let's see, where's a good spot to get up to no good…"

Taking the lead Cadeja slowly circled the giant oak in the center of the Yard, looking for a place they could spar. Yang followed a step behind her. But as they passed closer to the oak, she couldn't help but notice the gauges in the trunk of the tree. Several of the cuts were ragged scars that scored deep into the wood.

Quickly, Yang looked away – not wanting to be reminded of her encounter with the Nevermore. Trying to focus on anything else, Yang watched several inmates in hunter green jumpsuits placing down sod or carrying away fallen debris from the top of the walls.

These women were part of the work crews – inmates recruited to help with cleaning out the Birdcage after the attack. There wasn't as much work to be done in the Yard, but the prison had recruited dozens of them to help clear out A and D blocks.

Squinting, Yang noticed that she recognized some of the inmates. A lot of them were Faunus from D block.

Distracted, she didn't notice it when Cadeja came to a halt in front of her.

"Woah-" she said, arm flailing out to the side as she nearly lost her balance trying not to slam into the wolf Faunus.

"A little warning would've been nice," Yang grumbled. When Cadeja didn't say anything, Yang peered around her shoulder. "What're you looking at?"

"I don't… know," said Cadeja, only half paying attention to Yang as she came to stand beside her. "Somethin' about it's just botherin' me…"

"About what?" asked Yang.

Cadeja jerked her chin, indicating a spot about two hundred feet ahead of them.

Yang followed her gaze and saw Judith – the younger of the two Verté sisters – wearing one of the green jumpsuits of the work crews. But she didn't seem to be helping the nearby group of inmates heft fallen chunks of concrete into the wheelbarrows they were using to transport them out of the Yard.

She was standing off to the side of the crew, talking to a CO – one that Yang recognized. Heads bent together, Judith and CO Reilly seemed to take turns looking around to see if anyone was watching them.

Just barely catching the small motion, Yang noticed it when Reilly passed a couple of small objects to Judith, pulling them out of the pockets of his uniform. From what Yang could tell they were a pack of cigarettes and something that looked like a necklace. It was a silver coin hanging from a long, simple chain, but if it was some sort of currency – it wasn't one that Yang recognized.

Not wanting to get caught staring, Yang looked away – only to notice that Cadeja had disappeared.

"Hey! What the-" she said to no one in particular. Looking around, she saw that Cadeja had started to walk across the field, heading to the left of where Judith and Reilly were.

 _Where is she going?_ thought Yang as she hurried to catch up.

When she was only a few steps away she saw Cadeja approach the work crew and pull one of the Faunus aside – a tall woman with unmistakable sandy blonde hair: Leonie. Getting closer, she overheard some of their exchange.

"The fuck is going on over there?" murmured Cadeja, casting a glance up at Judith and Reilly.

"Don't worry about it Álvarez," said Leonie.

Cadeja said something else that Yang couldn't quite catch, but Leonie shook her head.

"…we didn't get control of the work crews without a little help. Reilly's just a necessary evil."

Cadeja's ears flattened to her head.

"You sure it's worth it? Don't you remember what happened with el Cuco?" she asked, leaning closer to Leonie. "You sure you want to risk that again just to sneak some shit in here?

"There's more to it than that and you know it," hissed Leonie, a momentary flash of irritation spreading across her face. Her features smoothing out, she said something else – her tone becoming more even.

"…it's been rough for you lately, and if you need anything… you just let me know, I'll take care of it. If you want anything from the outside, I'll see what I can do..."

With that, Leonie made brief eye contact with Yang who was still standing a few feet away. Frowning, the Faunus turned on her heel and went back to the work crew.

Still looking concerned, Cadeja made her way back over to Yang.

"Everything okay?" asked Yang.

"Not sure," said Cadeja. "Leonie's not stupid and she knows how to take care of her shit, but taking over the work crews to smuggle stuff into the Birdcage isn't her style. She knows everyone's on high alert right now – there's gotta be somethin' else she's trying to get out of this."

"You've really known her a long time, haven't you?"

Cadeja grinned – the smile not quite reaching her eyes.

"Long enough."

A question bubbled up in Yang's mind.

"Hey Cadeja?" she said, her voice tentative.

Cadeja looked at her expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"What you said to Leonie – I couldn't help but overhear. What's 'el Cuco?'"

Something sad flashed in Cadeja's eyes. After a moment, she muttered, " _El Cuco_ is the boogeyman…"

Not sure what to make of that, Yang just stared at her for a moment. Then, seeming to come back to her usual self, Cadeja smiled grimly.

"Never mind all that – we've got other stuff to worry about," she said. Turning around, her eyes searched the Yard – settling on a pile of rubble that the work crews hadn't started to clear away yet.

Ears perking up on top of her head, she strode off toward the spot – knowing that Yang would follow her.

The characteristically wry tone returning to her voice, Cadeja turned her head to look at Yang over her shoulder and said, "You wanted a fight, Xiao Long? Cause you're about to get one. Let's see if I can't whip your ass into shape."

* * *

Author's note: Hey guys! Thank you so much for keeping up with the story, the response to the last couple chapters has been amazing. Please feel free to reach out and let me know how you think the story is going - I'll be back soon with the next couple chapters of volume 2!


	15. Tooth and Nail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Cadeja get their sparring match, but Yang had no idea just what she was getting herself into - will she be able to find a way around the wolf Faunus's semblance? Later, trouble in the showers.

Behind Bars, _Volume 2_

Part Three: Tooth and Nail

* * *

"Grrrrr – AHHH! Son of a- _Umph_!"

Cadeja chuckled darkly.

"A little rusty Xiao Long?" she teased, still laughing.

"No! I got this!"

The wolf Faunus disappeared in a blur of motion and the next thing Yang knew, Cadeja landed another solid blow on her shoulder.

"Dammit!" cursed Yang, holding her arm.

"Yeah – you definitely got this," purred Cadeja.

"Stop playing around!" growled Yang, feeling her frustration start to take over.

"Oh, I'm not playing," said Cadeja, her face growing more serious.

Thinking that Cadeja's guard had slipped while they were talking, Yang dropped her hand from her bruised right shoulder and lashed out. Propelling herself forward, she feinted like she was going to throw a jab at Cadeja's jaw. But instead, she kept barreling forward – trying to tackle the Faunus.

But Cadeja wouldn't be caught by surprise. Somehow she'd anticipated the move – and instead of raising her arms to block the punch she sidestepped neatly, grabbing onto Yang as she passed and giving her a not-so gentle shove.

Yang stumbled and nearly lost her balance. Before she could turn back around to face Cadeja, the Faunus landed another kick – this time between Yang's shoulder blades.

"AH! How did you do that?" hissed Yang spinning around. "How did you – what the hell are you doing?"

Cadeja smiled – her eyes were closed.

"Somethin' the matter, ave rota?"

"Yeah – I'm not gonna fight you with your eyes closed. Come on, you don't have to go easy on me."

"I'm not – believe me. Just try to hit me – you'll see," said Cadeja, never once opening her eyes.

Yang hesitated.

 _Is she_ trying _to make me feel worse? Am I really doing so badly that she feels like she has to handicap herself to give me a chance?_

"Cadeja, I won't-"

"Yes, you WILL!" she shouted. Not giving Yang a chance to respond, Cadeja nimbly leapt up onto the pile of rubble beside them. Running at full speed, she leapt from one rock to the next – arcing down at Yang from above.

Yang barely had time to react. Throwing herself backwards, she landed on her back. Curling up so most of her weight was on her shoulders, she lifted her feet above her – legs bent at the knees.

She'd moved just in time – her feet caught Cadeja square in the chest. Heaving, Yang kicked out and sent the Faunus flying past her. Quickly, she launched herself off of the ground and back onto her feet – spinning around to face Cadeja.

"That's better," said Cadeja, reopening one dark green eye.

At this point they were both breathing heavily. Yang's muscles burned – after several months they weren't used to the abuse. She smiled – it felt good.

Yang watched as Cadeja straightened up, seeming to relax for a moment. Taking a second to catch her breath as well, Yang quickly glanced around. Even with the pile of concrete blocking them from the view of half the guards and inmates in the Yard, there were still several people who could see them.

But for whatever reason, none of them had so much as reacted to Yang and Cadeja's sparring.

Yang frowned.

_What did she do to get them to leave us alone? She'd said they'd never let us-_

Yang's thoughts were interrupted when she felt a sudden gust of wind whoosh by her head and she heard the scuttling descent of a pebble disturbed in the pile of concrete. Looking up, she saw Cadeja taking the high ground – eyes closed once again.

Deciding to meet her on the offensive, Yang jumped up onto the nearest rock, racing her to the top.

Cadeja was fast – but so was Yang. Using her long legs to propel her up the pile, Yang managed to reach the top just one step ahead of the Faunus. Turning on her heel and letting gravity add to her speed, she fell on Cadeja with her left hand pulled back – balled up into a fist.

For a second Cadeja frowned and her step seemed to falter. A rock had shifted under one of her feet. Taking advantage, Yang lashed out –

"Ha! I got you now," she growled.

As Yang's punch connected with Cadeja's ribs, the Faunus twisted – moving impossibly fast. Yang grimaced as they both fell down the pile. She'd only managed to land a glancing blow – barely enough to do any sort of damage.

The fight stopped momentarily as they both fought to regain their balance and they tumbled back down to the grass of the open field. Each of them landing on their feet, they ended up standing about five yards apart.

A fire burned in Yang's gut.

_Now! Move before she can recover –_

Swallowing a war cry, Yang sprinted across the gap between them and grinned – satisfied – as she leapt and managed to land a flying kick on Cadeja's upraised arms. Yang's foot impacted one of Cadeja's forearms heavily and for a moment the world seemed to come to a standstill.

Yang watched as if it was in slow motion: Cadeja's other arm snaked around her foot – hand reaching for Yang's ankle.

 _Yes!_ she thought triumphantly. _She's falling for it! I just have to let her take hold…_

Yang had purposely left herself open to the counterattack. Hoping that Cadeja would take the bait, she intended to take the full force of the blow and absorb it with her semblance – only to send it hurtling back in Cadeja's face.

Then, one of Cadeja's shaggy white ears twitched.

"What the-" sputtered Yang.

Cadeja's grip released from Yang's ankle and her arm slid back behind the forearm that had taken the brunt of the kick. Exhaling heavily, Cadeja shoved back hard – sending Yang flying away from her.

Yang flipped over backwards once gracefully in the air, landing on the balls of her feet with a muted _thud_. It was all over in a matter of seconds.

"What did you do that for?" she yelled, her eyes flashing red. She could feel the heat of her semblance rising over her skin in anticipation of what should have been an easy counterattack for the Faunus.

Cadeja opened her eyes, studying Yang with a bemused look on her face.

"You think I don't know what you were tryin' to do, Xiao Long?" she asked, a lopsided grin pulling up at the corner of her lips.

"But how could you?" demanded Yang. "I've never told you anything about my semblance! There's no way you could know what I was doing."

"Obviously," said Cadeja, "there was a way."

Yang practically seethed, her ribs heaving with each ragged breath. Panting, she took a moment to puzzle it out.

"It's your eyes, isn't it?" she asked after a moment, her breathing slowly returning to normal.

Cadeja straightened up out of her crouch, holding her side where a sharp cramp bit into her lungs. She may not have taken a lot of hits during their exchange, but the sparring had lasted long enough to start to tire her out.

Cadeja grinned – for a moment flashing her teeth, marked by two dark spots where her fangs should have been.

"Isn't it?" repeated Yang. "You're doing something… I just don't know what. Your semblance – it comes from your eyes."

"Yes, and no," said Cadeja, still catching her breath.

"Oh c'mon don't pull that cryptic crap on me, I get enough of that from Church," Yang muttered.

" _Va-le_ ," said Cadeja, exaggerating the first syllable. "My semblance isn't somethin' I usually talk about, but I guess you've earned that much."

Walking over to the pile of rubble, Cadeja seated herself on a low shelf of concrete. Yang remained standing.

"You were right to think it's in my eyes – otherwise I wouldn't have been able to fight you like that. But that's only part of it," she said, pausing. "My semblance is a rare gift – only known to show up amongst my people once in a generation."

She frowned.

"It can be difficult to explain. For starters, I don't actually have to close my eyes to use it," she said, smiling up at Yang. "That's just me showin' off – tends to fuck with my opponents a bit too."

Yang grumbled under her breath, causing Cadeja to chuckle.

"It allows me to sort of… I guess the word is _borrow_ other people's sight. In most cases, they don't even notice it happenin' – unless I want them to."

Realization dawned on Yang's face.

"That's why nobody paid attention to us…"

Cadeja nodded.

"But it's more than that. Like I said, it's not just in my eyes. It's up to me to learn how to interpret what I see through those around me – everybody sees the world a little differently. By piecing it all together, I can see a picture that most people could never imagine," she said, her voice muted. "It takes years to master – if not decades. Even I'm not completely in control of it."

"Did someone teach you?" asked Yang.

"Yes, but that was a long time ago – and that's a story for another day."

"That still doesn't explain how you anticipated what I was trying to do with my semblance," she said.

"It's like I said. I pull all that information together to see patterns in the fabric of the world – if I'm good enough at it, I can learn to predict somebody's fightin' style, even after a brief encounter. And sometimes, I can even _see_ somebody's semblance – _know_ what it is before they ever use it in front of me. They don't even necessarily have to have their aura unlocked, but that happens more rarely."

"That's," said Yang, her head spinning, "impossible."

Cadeja shook her head grinning.

"No, it's not ave rota. Difficult, yes. Impossible? No. That's how I knew – I knew you wanted me to attack you, just so you could double the force and send it back at me."

Yang looked down at her hand numbly, her open palm turned upwards.

_I never had a chance, did I?_

Cadeja noticed the pause and shifted off of her seat on the pile of rubble.

"Don't get down on yourself. Here – let's try again," she said, sliding back into her stance.

"But how am I supposed to fight that?" asked Yang, dejected.

"There's more than one way to win a fight, Xiao Long. It's plain to most anybody who sees you fight that you favor direct attacks and brute strength. With your semblance you can afford to – at least, up to a certain point. But sometimes you'll find yourself up against an obstacle you can't simply punch your way through, ave rota."

For a moment, Cadeja's eyes softened.

"But givin' up isn't the answer. You simply have to find another way around."

For a moment, Yang said nothing – still staring at her hand.

"When I get outta here I'm gonna have to do this all over again, you know," she said. "A general from Atlas built this _arm_ for me – and I'm gonna have to learn to fight, _again_."

Tears of frustration welled up in Yang's eyes.

"And you'll be ready for it, Xiao Long. Take this one step at a time – first learn to fight without it, and then with it. You never know what will happen – you may not always be able to rely on that new arm, even when you're outta here."

Yang closed her hand into a tight fist, muscles in her forearm clenching. Looking up at Cadeja she smiled, determined.

"Let's go," said Yang, widening her stance and raising her fist in front of her.

Cadeja returned her smile and leapt forward – closing the gap between them.

For several minutes they exchanged a series of blows. Yang found herself backpedaling and dodging frequently – on the defensive more than she would have liked. But without her right arm, she had to be more cautious.

Even still, Cadeja landed several small blows to her jaw, ribs, and shoulders – but none were forceful enough to fuel her semblance to the point where Yang could cause any major retaliatory damage.

But bit by bit, Yang noticed Cadeja starting to tire out faster than she was. Feeling confident, she tried to regain some of the ground she'd lost. At one point, she had managed to step inside Cadeja's guard, knocking her left foot out from underneath her and landing a series of quick punches in her gut before she could fully recover her balance.

Reeling, Cadeja leapt away and gave herself some space. They both paused for a moment, fighting to draw a breath.

The wolf Faunus smiled.

"Are you ready, ave rota?" she asked, tone playful.

"Ready for what?" Yang gasped out between breaths.

"For me to push you," said Cadeja.

Before Yang could ask what that meant, the edges of Cadeja's form seemed to shudder for a moment and then she was gone. If Yang hadn't known any better, she would have said she was never there.

To her right – on her weak side – she heard a low chuckle and she turned, braced for the attack. An invisible punch landed on her jaw and her eyes burned red again, tinting her vision. For a split second while the jab made contact with her skin, Yang thought she could just glimpse Cadeja – but when the strike had ended she was gone again.

In a defensive crouch, Yang slowly turned in a circle – eyes searching the field around her.

Almost a whisper, Cadeja's voice sounded just behind her left shoulder.

"You'll have to rely on more than just your eyes, ave rota…"

Spinning around, Yang raised her arm – ready to defend herself. But no blow came. Cautiously, she started to turn in a circle again, trying to anticipate Cadeja's next attack.

Unfortunately, she failed to stop the next several blows. Cadeja came at her from all sides – darting in and out too fast for Yang to retaliate. Another punch connected with her jaw, a foot stuck her hip, another kick landed across her ribs.

_Dammit! There has to be a way…_

By now, Yang's semblance had started to build from the number of blows she'd taken from Cadeja.

 _I just need one clear shot…_ she thought, biting down on her lip.

While the wheels were turning in her head, another attack came at her from behind. A split second before she felt Cadeja's fist connect with her shoulder, Yang heard a low grunt and a muffled footstep.

Wincing, she smiled.

_Or maybe I just need to…_

A new plan was taking shape in her mind.

_Only one way to find out._

Nervously, Yang let her eyes close and she put everything she had into listening for the small sounds of Cadeja's approach. She frowned – other noises from the Yard babbled around her head and she had to force herself to concentrate.

A pebble skittered across the pile of rubble to her right – again on her weak side.

_There!_

Eyes snapping open, Yang spun out of the way and felt a small breeze as Cadeja whirred past her. Dancing around the lower levels of the rock pile, Yang skirted up into the concrete – luring Cadeja away from the soft grass and up to where she'd be forced to make more noise.

Careful to pick a stable spot, Yang forced herself to listen even harder than before. Something _crunched_ lightly a few feet below her and Yang jumped backwards, propelling herself further up the pile.

For several minutes, Yang danced her way around the pile of fallen concrete – managing to keep a few feet between her and Cadeja most of the time. No more sudden blows came out of nowhere, no more heavy-fisted punches landed in her face.

Yang's lungs started to burn and her legs were like ghost limbs beneath her. Once, she didn't quite jump far enough to land on the next slab of rock and she nearly fell. She'd gotten lucky that Cadeja wasn't closer when that happened.

Finally, when Yang thought that just maybe she wouldn't be able to outlast Cadeja, the fabric of the world seemed to twist for a minute and then the white-haired Faunus appeared a couple yards away from her. Cadeja was panting hard, crouched down on one knee. Her eyes were squeezed shut tightly, and she grimaced.

"There you are," muttered Yang.

Steeling herself, Yang leapt across the space between them and landed heavily, shaking the slab of concrete where Cadeja knelt. Yang's hair glowed with a yellow fire and her eyes burned brightly. Her fist swung around in a deadly arc – aimed right between Cadeja's eyes.

But her hand stopped right before the Faunus's face and she smiled.

"Game over," she whispered between shuddering breaths.

Cadeja peeked up at her, peeling open one eye. She grinned briefly.

"Well done, ave rota. You found a way," she said.

After that, they both slid down the pile and collapsed on the ground in a heap. Lying on their backs, they stared up at the sky above the force field – exhausted. Dazed, they watched rain drops bounce off of the invisible barrier, landing in a subtle _pitter-patter_ above them.

"It tires you out, doesn't it?" asked Yang after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes, it does. I usually wouldn't rely so heavily on my semblance in a fight – or else I'd risk someone figuring out what you did and taking advantage. I only did it this time to help you train," said Cadeja, turning her head to look at Yang.

"So it does have a weakness," Yang murmured.

"Yes – but that's not the only one," said Cadeja.

She paused for a moment and then seemed to make a decision.

"This isn't somethin' we usually tell outsiders. So, ave rota," she said, pulling herself up onto one elbow to glare down at Yang, "Never repeat what I am about to tell you. It's not safe for just anyone to know your weaknesses, you got me?"

Yang nodded, eyebrows knitting together.

Satisfied, Cadeja laid back down on the grass.

"Yes – fighting with my semblance makes me tired faster than fighting without out it. Especially when I try to use it on more and more people. But there's a reason why it's called _el camino ciego_ amongst my people."

"What does it mean?" asked Yang.

"It means the blind path," replied Cadeja.

"That doesn't make much sense," muttered Yang. "If it lets you see more than anyone else by taking the sight of others, it should be called _borrowed sight_ or _vision stealer_ or something cool like that."

Cadeja chuckled once and then coughed – her lungs still not fully recovered from earlier.

"There's a reason," she said when she got her voice back. "It's called the blind path because if my aura were to break while I'm using it – or even if I use it on too many people for too long – there's a price to pay. My vision would actually get _worse_. I wouldn't quite be blind – and it's only temporary – but I would be vulnerable. I've trained to fight in case that were to happen, but still…"

Her voice petered out, and for a moment she just stared up at the sky.

"I think I get it," said Yang, glancing over at her cellmate. "It's kind of like when I release my semblance – after it builds up, if I put everything I've got into one attack, I feel just so… _drained_ afterwards. I could still fight, but I wouldn't be strong enough to keep going for long."

"Mhm," Cadeja hummed in her throat, her chin bobbing once in a slight nod.

After that, they were silent, and a few minutes later, they heard the voices of some of the COs calling out to the inmates.

"D Block! Time's up! Line up for transport – you're hittin' the showers!"

Sighing, Yang picked herself up off the ground. With a grin, she reached her hand down to Cadeja and helped pull the Faunus up to her feet.

Making a face at Yang, Cadeja wrinkled up her nose.

"Well, at least there's one good thing," she said.

Puzzled, Yang asked, "What's that?"

"We got the showers next – by the gods you _stink_."

"Hey!" yelled Yang, chasing after Cadeja as she ran across the Yard to where guards were lining girls up to be cuffed for the walk to the B Block showers.

* * *

Cold water pelted the skin on Yang's back – the jet from the showerhead stabbing into her like a blade of ice.

For once, she enjoyed the sensation. Rolling the muscles in her neck and shoulders, she let the icy water knead into the sore spots from her sparring session with Cadeja. Still wary of the time limit on shower privileges, Yang washed her hair and scrubbed a ragged wash cloth across her skin.

Quickly glancing behind her, Yang made sure no one was looking before she let her aura build up for a few seconds – letting the warmth from the energy soothe her tired muscles.

Hurrying to shut the faucet off before the timer ran out on her shower, Yang stemmed the flow of her aura and grabbed the towel she'd draped over the side of the stall.

As she turned around to step out of the shower, Yang's cheeks flushed. In the moment before she could wrap the towel securely around herself, she found that she still felt embarrassed about being naked in front of so many other women. After two months, it wasn't something Yang had been able to get used to.

Even with a corner tucked tightly into the top of the thin towel, Yang still held onto it with her hand, her arm draped protectively across her chest. Walking back through the rows of shower stalls, Yang made her way over to the counter where she'd left a change of clothes.

Try as she might, Yang couldn't help but catch a few quick glances of other girls in the showers. Some women didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that they had no privacy – perhaps, they'd just been here too long to care anymore. They'd walk naked around the bathroom and as far as Yang could tell they didn't gave a damn who saw them.

Other inmates were more like Yang. They hurried through their showers and tried to cover themselves with their hands. The worst was when you had to use one of the first stalls closest to the door – there, the guards could see you and with the recent shortage of COs, it wasn't always women who were assigned to escort the inmates to the bathrooms.

More than once, Yang had noticed a male guard not so subtly sneaking a peek at some of the girls. And, depending on the guard, some girls seemed to encourage it – possibly hoping to win a favor.

 _But at what cost?_ thought Yang, shaking her head.

When she made it over to where she'd stashed her clothes, Yang found that Cadeja was already there and dressed. Not noticing Yang's approach, her eyes were distant and unfocused as she stared blindly at the wall length mirror in front of her. Gingerly, her hand came up and touched her mouth – just over where one of her fangs would have been.

Feeling awkward about intruding on the moment, Yang hesitated for a second before making a low coughing sound in her throat.

Cadeja's ears perked up on top of her head and the dazed look left her face.

"Hey," said Yang, coming to stand next to the Faunus.

"Sup," she muttered. Picking up a hair brush, she started to tug it through her wild mass of hair.

Still wearing her towel, Yang slipped into her underwear and stepped into her khaki colored pants. One leg at time she tugged them up until the elastic waist band sat just above her hips.

Looking around at the other inmates, Yang dropped the towel from around her chest. For a moment, she stood there half naked, fumbling with her bra. Hooking the clasp, she pulled it down over her head like a t-shirt. Carefully, she finagled her ruined right arm through the straps.

Still combing through her spiky white hair, Cadeja teased around the base of her wolf ears with the brush. The black tufted tip of one ear flicked and she closed her eyes, smiling at the sensation.

Yang peeked over at her through the curtain of her wet hair, and she couldn't help the bemused grin the tugged up the corners of her lips. It was a rare moment to the see the usually hard woman relax and enjoy something like scratching her own ears.

Still smiling to herself, Yang dropped her eyes back to the counter in front of her as she went about the business of unfolding her shirt.

"Don't think I forgot, by the way," said Cadeja.

Still fumbling with her shirt, Yang looked over at her. Cadeja's eyes were open in narrow slits as she pulled her long white hair over her shoulder, teasing out the ends with her brush.

"We had a deal. I spar with you and we talk – you've still got some explainin' to do," she said. Her eyes flicked up in the mirror to meet Yang's.

"I didn't forget," said Yang, returning her gaze. "Later, we'll talk. When we're at dinner or something – we got work duty coming up after this."

Cadeja nodded.

"Have fun with that, tell Darrah I said hi," she said wryly.

"I'll make sure to do just that," Yang muttered as she pulled her shirt down over her head.

After a minute, the two of them had finished cleaning up. Gathering up their stuff, they turned to walk back towards the entrance to the B Block showers.

Several latecomers were still in the showers, some were even just starting. Most girls, however, had finished. A long line of inmates clogged up the area by the entrance to the showers as inmates cued up to get handcuffed.

Standing at the back of the crowd, Yang and Cadeja waited. Occasionally they muttered something to one another, not really talking about anything.

The line crawled, moving up only once every few minutes. The few guards assigned to the showers that day were overwhelmed by the crush of inmates waiting to leave the bathroom.

A handful of girls decided to take advantage of the distraction. Looking over Cadeja's shoulder, Yang saw two girls in the same shower stall. One was ripping at her clothes, pulling her shirt up over her head. The other had already been in the shower –tendrils of wet black hair sticking to her naked back.

Yang had started to look away when her eye fell onto the inmate's exposed back. Dark black ink snaked across her skin, curling lines with sharp, clean edges. The tattoo was massive – it stretched from her shoulder blades down to the small of her back.

It was an eagle in midflight. Its wings reached from her right shoulder to her left hip, ending just below a patch of red, shiny skin – as if grown over a recent wound.

The eagle's feathers came to neat little points, and around the wings were scrawled stylized little lines – indicating motion and wind whirring around the bird. Some of them rippled like dark flames, and they curved up onto her neck and down between the dimples of her lower back.

The beast's head arced across her right shoulder blade. Its beak shrieked open in a silent cry, a sharp little tongue poking out of its harshly curved mouth. The pupils of its eyes were slitted like a snake's.

The eagle flexed and moved as the muscles in the girl's back tensed. Her hands hungrily tore into the other girl's hair, yanking back her head as she trailed kisses across her neck. In some places, her teeth left small red marks across the girl's skin.

Yang lost sight of the sprawling black bird as the girl turned and shoved the other inmate against the wall of the shower stall.

Ears swiveling towards the noise, Cadeja turned to see what Yang was staring at.

"Ay, esa pendeja," she muttered.

Now that the couple had turned, Yang could see the girl with the tattoo's face. Unsurprisingly, it was Sasha.

The other girl in the shower – nobody that Yang recognized – reached up to squeeze Sasha's breasts but Sasha growled and batted her hands away. Her face practically a snarl, she latched onto the girl's wrists and pinned her arms behind her back.

The girl's shoulder wrenched and she let out a small yelp. The cry only served to encourage Sasha, whose teeth clamped down around the girl's lower lip.

Curling herself around the girl's body, Sasha's eyes glanced up over the girl's shoulder and for a moment her eyes met Yang's. She smiled darkly and continued to stare at Yang as her tongue teased in and out of the other girl's mouth.

Sasha's hands released the girl's wrists and clawed into her back, trailing bright red lines across her skin.

Yang frowned, eyes narrowing. She wanted to look away but she didn't want to give Sasha the satisfaction.

Sasha laughed and blew a kiss at Yang.

"Come on," said Cadeja. Tugging on Yang's arm, she pulled Yang up through the crowd of waiting inmates. Around them, a couple girls protested as they cut in front of them in the line to leave the B Block showers.

"Sasha's such a creep," spat Yang. "Sometimes it feels like everywhere I look – there she is!"

Cadeja frowned, trying to catch Yang's eye.

"Don't let her get you, me entiendes, Xiao Long?" she said, voice commanding.

"It's easier said than done. Sasha's not gonna leave me alone anytime soon," muttered Yang, eyes trained on the floor. The muscles in her jaw clenched and rolled under her skin.

"La Mala is a royal bitch – trust me, I've been around long enough to know that. But she'll find a new target – she always does. One day you'll wake up and she'll be somebody else's problem."

Yang tightened her hand into a fist around her thumb, pressing on the joint until it cracked with a loud _pop_.

"Even if that's her usual MO, unfortunately for me that just isn't gonna happen in my case," she murmured.

Cadeja flashed her a confused look.

"Da fuck does that mean?"

Yang shook her head.

"I'll explain later – it's sort of a long story."

Cadeja narrowed her dark green eyes, studying Yang's face. Yang felt the hair prick up on the back of her neck, feeling as if something was trying to brush against her thoughts.

"Hey!" she yelled when she realized what the sensation was. "Don't think I don't know what you're up to – stop trying to use your semblance on me! I promised I'd tell you what's up, _later_."

Cadeja smiled.

"Cálmate, ave rota. I can't actually read your mind – I'm just trying to make sure you're okay. I don't even think you realize how much your aura spiked just now."

Feeling called out, Yang made a visible effort to relax the muscles in her neck and jaw, releasing the tension that had started to build up. Slowly, she took a deep breath.

"Your eyes were gonna do that thing again, you know," said Cadeja. With her index finger, she reached up and poked Yang in the middle of her forehead, just above her eyes. "Your frustration builds, and focuses your energy on a point right here. When it breaks a certain threshold," she said, removing her hand and making a gesture that imitated a sudden release, "then _poof_! Red eyes."

Yang flashed her a sarcastic look.

"You're kinda creepy, you know that?" she said, one eyebrow raised dramatically.

Cadeja laughed surprisingly loud, startling some of the inmates around them. One of the guards looked over at them quizzically for a moment before going back to cuffing a pair of manacles around a girl's ankles.

"You have no idea, Xiao Long," she said, grinning broadly at Yang with her broken smile, two black holes gaping between her sharp white teeth.


	16. Warning Signs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang notices more and more contraband leaking into the prison through the work crews. And when she gets confronted by Sasha again, she gets pushed over the edge - deciding it's finally time to confront Adrienne about Sasha, Raven, and whatever else is going on. Also, a mysterious note arrives for Yang from an unexpected source.

Behind Bars, _Volume Two_

Part Four: Warning Signs

* * *

"I don't give a flyin' ffffffffffuck 'bout those new – new _bitchez_ they hired to police us. They can go fuck 'em selves. S'pecially that quill bitch."

Yang sat at her customary table, hidden deep in the stacks at the back of the library. Her feet were propped up on the table, crossed at the ankles. A book sat open in her lap, forgotten.

She narrowed her eyes, listening to the slurred speech of the girls loitering at the far end of the row where her table was. Some of them were hidden from sight, blocked by the ceiling-high stack of shelves, but she could still see a handful of them from where she sat.

Some of them she recognized, and some she didn't. But from what she could tell, they were all Faunus.

And for the most part, they were all _wasted_.

"Who the fuck she think she is? Some hot shit with spikes f' hair? Uglier than a mothafuckah if you azk me!"

"Bitch could poke an eye out with dat shit!"

"Probbly always gotta be on top, if you know what I mean!"

"Oh damn, ew! Why you gotta bring that shit up?"

The circle of girls cackled. The one who laughed the loudest was the one who'd made the crack – she doubled over and clutched her sides, tears brimming in her eyes.

Some of them started to catch their breath and they passed around a glass bottle half full with brown liquid. The syrupy substance sloshed around inside the glass, bits of what looked like fruit floating inside it.

As it made its way around the circle, each girl took a swig before she passed it along to the next. One or two grimaced, forcing themselves to swallow the dark brown drink.

The drunker they got, the more they spilled. After a while, Yang could smell the distinct tang of alcohol, sweet but metallic. Notes of honey and peaches floated down the row towards her.

"Shh-shh-shh," said one of them, holding a finger up to her lips. Eyebrows raised and a sloppy smile plastered to her face, she said, " _Quiet_ – don't want that glasses bitch from the front desk to catch us."

They giggled, pretending to look abashed. And still, they kept passing the bottle around.

Only two of them seemed still in control of themselves – one was Judith. Yang watched her more carefully than the others. She wasn't quite as tall as her sister, but her reddish-blonde hair still stuck out amongst the crowd.

Every time the bottle came her way, she leaned back and looked like she'd taken a bigger swig than most, but she never seemed to swallow it. She _acted_ drunk, but her eyes were more alert, wary.

The other girl who didn't seem quite as trashed was Freya. The rabbit Faunus stood on the edge of the circle with her arms wrapped around herself. At first, she'd refused the bottle, but after a series of abusive remarks from the other girls she'd started to take small, hesitant sips.

Seeing Freya, Yang realized that these Faunus weren't from the Vertés' usual crew: Judith seemed to be sharing the wealth of work crew contraband with inmates from A and D blocks.

 _Probably recruiting more Faunus_ … thought Yang. She gnawed on her lower lip, eyes zeroing in on Judith once again.

The mountain cat Faunus's cut-off tail twitched and she turned, as if feeling Yang's gaze on her back. For a second, she met Yang's glare, a cocky smile on her lips.

Momentarily, Yang's eyes drifted – following the long chain around Judith's neck down to where a coin dangled against the front of her shirt. Recognizing it, Yang realized it was the necklace she'd seen Reilly pass to Judith in the Yard.

Getting a better look at it than she had before, Yang confirmed that she'd never seen any sort of currency like it before. It was large – an inch and a half across. Engraved into the silver was an intricately crafted design: from what she could tell, it was some sort of elm or oak, most of its leaves fallen and swirled in a pile around its base.

Irritation flickered across Judith's face as she noticed Yang scrutinizing the necklace. Protectively, she gripped the coin and tucked it beneath her shirt, hiding it from sight.

Pointedly turning away from Yang, Judith focused her attention back on the other Faunus who were still chattering away obliviously. Digging in her pockets, Judith pulled out a few small brightly wrapped objects and started handing them out to the other girls in the circle.

There were a few exclamations of excitement as drunk fingers fumbled with the wrapping around each parcel. Squinting, Yang read a few familiar brand names off the packages – recognizing several of them as popular chocolate bars.

One wrapped in red and yellow made its way to Freya and the girl held it possessively against her chest. There it remained, clutched in her hands uneaten. She hiccupped once, the tip of her damaged ear twitching.

Meanwhile, the circle of girls went back to chatting.

Judith leaned in, her voice low as if sharing a secret.

"…working on the reconstruction crews might be rough, but it comes with its perks," she said, smiling and pulling out more candy. "Gives us an in with the guards who import materials for the rebuild. And that's not the only favor we're winning with them…"

"So it's true?" asked one of the girls who was more alert. Several of the other inmates simply stared at Judith, looking more or less confused.

"Mhm," Judith hummed deep in her throat and nodded. "The hospital ward empties just little bit more every day, and they keep jamming more and more girls into what little cells they have left-"

"Assholes s'pect us to live like mo'fuckin' sardines!" shouted one of the girls, cutting off Judith.

Judith glared at her, eyes hard. Tossing her hair, she continued.

"Needless to say, overcrowding is a huge problem, so they're starting to transfer girls out. Some are even getting early releases if they're close enough to their date…"

Yang's eyes were wide – she was hanging on every one of Judith's words.

 _She can't mean… there's no way! Sneaking in candy bars and cigarettes is one thing but actually_ influencing _the transfers, she has to be bluffing…_

"Got a couple of our girls moved to min security facilities just a couple days ago – opened up a few spots on the work crew in D block," said Judith with a wink.

"S'plains where Lilli went," muttered one of the girls, clutching the bottle in an unsteady hand.

"I knew they was moving girls out!" exclaimed another. She had small horny ridges poking out of the skin above her temples, surrounded by small circular patches that almost looked like scales. "A couple girls in the cells next to mine disappeared yesterday."

"Mhm! Friend of my cellie's over in B block got the boot outta here the other day. Said she only had a couple weeks left on her time. Rumor has it she didn't get _moved_ , she got _out_. Like _out_ out, no new facility – she's home-fuckin'-free."

One of the other inmates still seemed skeptical – a Faunus with a big, bushy red fox tail swishing from side to side.

"How the hell we s'posed to believe it's you and your sister influencing who gets out?"

Yang saw something dark – like anger or irritation – flash in Judith's eyes. But before she could be entirely sure what she saw the look was gone, replaced by a big, flashy smile.

 _That's right_ , thought Yang, directing her words at Judith. _You don't have them all sold yet. You're probably just blowing smoke up their asses and some of them know it._

Still listening, Yang tried to puzzle out the Vertés' end game.

"Gotta take it on faith, friend," said Judith – her tone lighter than before. "And in the meantime…"

Judith grabbed the bottle and took a deep swig – actually swallowing some of it this time for effect. Still smiling, she passed it to the girl who'd posed the question.

The girl accepted the bottle and took a drink, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Returning Judith's smile with an impish grin, the fox Faunus shoved the bottle into Freya's hands – the girl nearly dropping her still un-wrapped candy bar in surprise.

The circle looked expectantly at Freya until she finally caved and brought the bottle back up to her lips for another drink. She squeezed her eyes shut and seemed to fight with herself for a moment, forcing herself to swallow.

Laughing, the girl who'd passed her the bottle tipped the glass back farther, forcing more of the sticky brown liquid past Freya's lips.

The rabbit Faunus coughed and sputtered, bringing the bottle away from her lips and holding her mouth in an effort not to spit up the liquid that was still snaking its way down her throat.

The circle of girls laughed and the next inmate in line grabbed the bottle.

Riding the wave of crazed energy, Judith joined in. Her laugh was surprisingly musical, although lower than most – matching her seductive voice. Again, she turned her eyes back to the girl who'd questioned her ability to influence the guards.

"Tell me, Velez," she said, eyes shining in the light from the fluorescents, "How much time you got left on your sentence?"

"Supposed to be another two months give or take. Why?" she asked, eyes studying Judith even as she swayed slightly on her feet.

"Two months, huh?" said Judith, making a show of mulling it over. "After how many long years?"

The girl frowned.

"Seven," she growled.

Judith smiled, and said, "Might be a bit steep for an early release – but these are desperate times for the fat fucks up in the Warden's office. I just _might_ be able to swing something…"

"You'd do that?" asked Velez, her voice hopeful.

"Well, in exchange for a little something on your part, I'm sure you, me, and my sister could work something out."

The fox Faunus grinned, and leaned in closer to hear what Judith said next. Yang strained but she couldn't hear what they were saying.

 _Dammit!_ she thought, getting aggravated. Her legs tensed – half ready to get up out of her chair when a voice slithered into her ear from just behind her shoulder.

"Listening to all the bees buzzing?"

Startled, Yang jerked away from the girl whose lips were right by her ear. She recognized the voice and turning, she met Sasha's eye.

"Never would've pegged you for an eavesdropper little Yang," said Sasha, an amused smile fixed to her face.

"Never would've pegged you for a creep who pops up behind people and whispers in their ear. Oh wait," said Yang, her tone mocking. "You've only done that to me like seven times."

Sasha's smile deepened.

"A little bitter now aren't we?"

Yang glared up at her from where she still sat at the library table. Her arm was crossed protectively over her chest, her hand gripping the stub hanging from her right shoulder.

"What do you want Sasha?" she said, keeping her voice low.

"A little birdie told me she saw you and your pet wolf coming out of the Yard all hot and sweaty the other day. Looked like you'd been doing more than just walking laps around the field. You wanna tell me about that?"

"A little birdie?" said Yang, raising an eyebrow and looking purposely at Sasha. "Funny phrase coming from you."

Sasha stiffened.

"Don't talk shit about things you don't understand, _halfbreed_ ," she hissed. "Now admit it. You and your little Faunus friend were sparring in the Yard."

Yang glared back at her, the muscles in her jaw tightening. When she didn't say anything, Sasha scoffed.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said. Leaning closer to Yang, she trailed a finger down along the bicep of Yang's ruined right arm. "Worried that you can't defend yourself nowadays, is that it?" she purred.

Yang flinched and shook off the touch.

"It's none of your business," she muttered.

Getting tired of Sasha's antagonism, Yang made to rise up out of her chair but Sasha shoved her back down, a hand clamping around each of Yang's shoulders.

"Sit. _Stay_ ," she spat, lowering her face towards Yang's. "Good girl," she hummed, meeting Yang's defiant gaze.

"You know," said Sasha, "if you ever _really_ wanna learn how to fight again, I might be able to do something about that. Not that I owe you any favors. If I remember correctly…"

Her voice trailed off as one of her hands lifted off of Yang's shoulder. One long-nailed finger drifted down and poked Yang in her side – just above her hip where Sasha's wound had been after the Grimm attack.

Yang fought not to jump at the touch, a knee-jerk reaction causing her muscles to clench.

"…you still owe me for saving your life from that Nevermore," said Sasha, straightening up and taking her hands off Yang.

Her hand balled up into a fist, Yang said, "So is that what you want? A _favor_?"

Sasha shrugged, unconcerned by Yang's thinly veiled anger.

"Nothing much really, compared to what I've already done for you," she said, leaning against one of the bookshelves. "I just need you to do what you've already been doing, and get close to that wolf bitch and the other Faunus."

"Why the hell would you want that?" asked Yang, genuine confusion on her face.

"It's pretty simple, Xiao Long. None of my girls are getting anywhere near those work crews thanks to the pussy cat twins," said Sasha, casting a disgruntled look in the direction of Judith and the other Faunus that still stood huddled around the brown bottle, the level of liquid diminishing all the while.

Lowering her voice so that only Yang could hear, Sasha continued.

"But that little connection of theirs – the relationship they've established with the guards in charge of the reconstruction – could be useful. So I need someone – namely, _you_ – to stay close to them, so that one day if I should need something, you can get it for me. Through _them_ ," she said with a sneer.

 _Clearly you don't like having to rely on them_ , thought Yang as she studied Sasha.

After a brief pause, Yang asked, "And what if I don't do what you ask? What if I _can't_? Just because I'm friends with Cadeja it doesn't mean that I can-"

"You'll find a way, little Yang," said Sasha, leering down at Yang from where she leaned against the shelves. "Or else you, your cellmate, and that little puppy, Raya, from A block will find yourselves falling on hard times, if you catch my drift."

Yang leapt up out of her chair and threw herself at Sasha. Trying to take advantage of the surprise, Yang used her one good arm to pin Sasha against the bookshelf.

Through gritted teeth she hissed, "You leave them out of this."

Hearing the crash as Sasha's back slammed into the bookshelf, the Faunus at the far end of the row stopped talking and watched them warily. For a moment, a furtive look passed between Sasha and Judith, but with a signal Judith dispersed the group of Faunus, each of them heading away from the scene.

The last one to leave was Freya – still clutching the chocolate bar to her chest like a child.

Shaking her head, Yang turned her attention back to Sasha. The raven-haired girl was smiling back at her, not even trying to resist the pressure of Yang's arm across her throat.

With a strained voice forcing its way up past the pressure from Yang's chokehold, Sasha murmured, "My, my – looks like little sister has some anger issues."

Yang's eyes flashed red, only proving her point more. Ragged breaths seethed out between her teeth, and Yang fought to regain control.

For a moment nothing happened. Sasha's hands were raised defenselessly, her open palms facing Yang even as she increased the pressure on her throat.

Glaring down at Sasha, Yang saw a flash of something that couldn't be real. She blinked, trying to clear away the vision:

Sasha's tawny eyes shifted, changing shape and turning red. Her hair came down out of its severe ponytail, falling in long black waves around her shoulders. Her skin shined, losing some of its color.

_Mom?_

"UH!" growled Yang, releasing her hold on Sasha and stepping away.

Focusing on her breathing, she glanced back over and Sasha was Sasha again – no sign of Raven remained.

Sasha rubbed her throat with her hand, never once losing the grin that had been plastered to her face.

"Looks like I struck a nerve," she half-whispered. She made a sound trying to clear her throat and coughed once, hacking.

Yang ignored her, still fighting within herself for control. Her eyes still shone red, and every muscle in her body quivered – tensed for a threat that wasn't there.

Sasha's voice reached out to her again – sounding like water in her ears, the words lost in the roar of crashing waves.

Distantly, Yang registered that Sasha had sauntered over to her, hips sway. Her lips moved, and the sounds reached her belatedly.

"…somebody could get the wrong idea about you two. You cling to that feral little bitch like she's more than just a cellmate…"

Sasha's hand trailed playfully around Yang's shoulder and down over her chest. Heat rising off of her skin, Yang's eyes snapped onto Sasha's – glinting with something like fury.

"…who's to say what happens behind closed cell doors. And I mean, as far as animals go – at least that white haired dog has a nice set of-"

"GET OFF ME!" shouted Yang, shoving Sasha away. Pushing past her, Yang half-ran down the row of bookshelves, heading for the front of the library.

Behind her, Sasha chuckled but didn't follow.

Blindly, Yang ran towards the exit. Darrah shouted something at her as she passed the front desk, but all Yang heard was a ringing in her ears.

_I'VE HAD ENOUGH._

It was that one thought that dominated her mind. Driven, she stomped up to the library doors and shouted.

"CO!"

She rattled on the handle of the locked doors.

"COOO!"

"What!" snapped a female voice on the other side of the doors.

"I want to see my counsellor! Take me there, _now_!" hollered Yang, still pulling uselessly on the handle.

"Can it inmate!" said another guard in the hallway. "You still got time left on your work duty."

Yang ignored him.

"I demand to see my counsellor! Isn't there walk in hours or some shit?" she shouted, pulling on the door handles again. "You have to let me go!"

Yang was still yanking on the doors when they suddenly swung inward, nearly knocking her over.

"Hey!" she yelled, stumbling back.

A female guard stood in the open doorway. It was the Faunus guard Yang and Cadeja had seen in the Yard – the one with hedgehog spikes running down her back in a long sheet like hair. She had calm brown eyes.

Not looking at Yang, she turned her head towards the other guard in the hall.

"She's just gonna keep shouting, Jed. Best to just take her and shut her up before she starts something with the other inmates in here," she said. Again, Yang couldn't help but notice the hazel coloring of her skin, almost unlike any other she'd ever seen.

"Evvie-" he started to say.

"It's Quinn. Don't call me that," she barked, cutting him off.

"But you just-"

"Who gives a shit? Just shut up and move aside. I'm taking," she paused, looking at Yang's uniform, "Xiao Long here to the counsellors' offices."

Yang watched the two guards warily. She held out her hand, waiting to be cuffed.

CO Quinn glanced at her and huffed.

"Fuck that, let's go," she said and clamped a hand down around Yang's proffered wrist.

Yang gasped, struggling not to pull her hand back. Quinn's grasp was cold, her skin hard like steel.

Vaguely, she heard the male guard protesting even as they shoved past him and into the hallway.

"Evv- CO Quinn! You can't do this, the prisoner has to be restrained!"

The Faunus guard ignored him, tugging Yang down the hallway in her wake. As they marched away, Yang cast a glance back and saw the male guard dithering – struggling to decide between chasing after them and keeping his post outside the library.

Seeming to make a decision, he pulled the library doors shut, securing them and returning to his post in front of them. Only his eyes followed them down the hall as they rapidly moved out of sight.

* * *

"Hey," said Quinn, not looking back at Yang as she continued to pull her through the hallways of Briarcliff's administrative wing.

Her hand was still wrapped in a steel vise around Yang's wrist.

"Which one's your counsellor?" she asked, her voice gruff.

"It's Adrienne," said Yang.

"Adrienne? Which one's that?" asked Quinn. "I'm still pretty new here – don't exactly know who's who."

"Oh, um," said Yang, struggling to remember Adrienne's last name. "Luna – that's her name I think."

"Luna," said Quinn, mulling it over. "Got it."

They turned a corner, entering the hallway where the counsellors' offices were located. Quinn's eyes scanned the gold name plates fixed to each door, tugging Yang along until they came to a stop outside Adrienne's office.

"I'll wait here," said the guard, releasing Yang and taking up a post next to the door.

Yang nodded, barely listening. Her eyes were locked onto Adrienne's name, her rage from earlier bubbling back up to the surface.

Steeling herself, Yang gripped the doorknob. Thinking about Adrienne, she remembered everything that had happened with Sasha – first in the showers and then in the library. Her anger flared back up inside her and briefly, an image of her mother's face flashed in her mind.

Gritting her teeth, she threw open the door and stepped inside.

"What in the-" exclaimed Adrienne, surprised as the door slammed open, banging against the wall.

Letting her bangs fall forward over her eyes, Yang strode further into the room.

"Oh," said Adrienne, regaining some of her composure. "It's you, Yang."

Yang suppressed a growl. Peering up at Adrienne, she saw the small woman's soft blue eyes and remembered how hard they had looked, standing over the dead body of the Coeurl.

 _You played me_ , thought Yang bitterly.

For a second, Yang felt the slightest of pressures building in her head, causing her forehead to throb. Briefly, she remembered what Cadeja had said about the point of energy where aura focused just before her eyes turned red.

_Cool it. Try to keep your calm, Xiao Long._

"Was there something that I could help you with?" asked the counsellor, sounding stiff and official.

"Why the hell would my mother do this?" shouted Yang. Startled, Yang momentarily realized that her voice was even louder than she'd intended.

 _So much for staying calm_ , she thought wryly, still fighting for control.

"I'm afraid I don't understand exactly what you're asking," said Adrienne, guarded. Her hands were folded neatly on top of her desk; the perfect picture of calm.

Yang's one good hand balled up into a fist.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! Sasha! You! All of it!" yelled Yang.

Adrienne sighed, looking slightly irritated.

"Could you at least close the door before you start pitching a fit? Some of these things are… sensitive."

"Seriously, _that's_ what you're worried about?" barked Yang. Regardless, she half-turned back towards the door, gripping the wood between her fingers and slamming it shut with a resounding _bang_.

There was no noticeable reaction from Quinn in the hall.

Adrienne merely smiled, shaking her head slightly. Staring back at Yang, she remained seated behind her desk.

"You gonna answer me?" demanded Yang, growing impatient. "What the hell is Raven up to?"

"What exactly is it that you want to know?" asked Adrienne, her expression impassive.

"Why the hell did Raven make Sasha my watch dog in here? Does she really hate me _that_ much?" yelled Yang, breathing heavily. "Why the hell would she even ask Sasha to watch over me? And for that matter – why _you_? Not one watch dog but two – not exactly my mother's style. She doesn't protect people without a reason…"

"Mhm," hummed Adrienne, agreeing. "Raven never does anything without a reason. You should be wary of that."

"Well DUH!" shouted Yang, impatience growing.

"I imagine she wanted to keep an eye on you, and make sure you stayed alive – not for your sake, but for hers. And as the leader of their tribe, Raven has the power to command Sasha, although Sasha's ability to follow orders without stepping out of line is always a bit… questionable."

"Ugh!" exclaimed Yang, throwing up her hand. "I don't know much about this tribe crap – only what I've heard from my uncle and what I've picked up from watching Sasha."

For a moment, Yang could hear Sasha whispering in her mind.

_Halfbreed…_

She shook her head, trying to ignore it.

"But how could she trust Sasha! She's out of control. Especially when she has you in place too! It just doesn't make any sense!" shouted Yang, fighting the urge to grab the nearest object and send it flying across the room.

"Yang," said Adrienne. Her calm, even tone was really starting to annoy Yang. "Did you ever consider the fact that Sasha has access to you as a prisoner that I simply don't as an administrator? Your day to day life here in Briarcliff – I'm simply not there, am I?"

"No…" said Yang, wary.

"Well, and I'm just guessing here, that's where Sasha comes in. Raven leans on me as a check on Sasha's more _unreliable_ nature, but there's not much insight I can glean into your life here – save what you tell me. And based on past experience, that isn't much," said Adrienne, her voice growing a little gruff.

"Are you saying this is my fault? That because I didn't trust you and spill my guts, Raven continues to sick Sasha on me?"

Adrienne shrugged.

"To be quite honest, I'm not sure Raven would have Sasha back off even if you did open up to me."

Yang slammed her palm against her forehead, generating a resounding _smack_.

"But WHY!" she demanded, grinding her teeth and pacing back and forth across Adrienne's cramped office.

"Well," said Adrienne, watching Yang carefully. "I'm not tribe myself, so I don't know exactly what Raven's motivations are. But I think we both know she's not keeping you safe out of the kindness of her heart. Clearly, she wants something from you – and needs to make sure you stay alive long enough to give it to her."

"If you're not one of her underlings then why the hell are you helping her? And why would she trust you?" asked Yang, suspicious.

Adrienne laughed once, grinning.

"That's my business."

"That's not an answer!" growled Yang.

"It's the only one you're going to get for now," said Adrienne, a dangerous edge creeping into her tone.

Yang sighed, feeling like she was getting nowhere.

"Is there any way to get Sasha to back off? Or to get a message to Raven asking her to stop all this?"

Adrienne paused, thinking.

"A message to Raven? I could probably get one out, but there's absolutely no guarantee she'd listen. If anything, it's more likely I could promise you that she'd ignore it. But as for Sasha," she said, still mulling it over, "I think that one's gonna be up to you to take control. She certainly won't listen to me, so I won't be foolish enough to even offer that."

Yang paced for a moment, thinking.

"Well if you can talk to Raven, tell her I said to back off. Her, you, Sasha – all of it – I don't want anything to do with it. I mean, look at where I am! Does it look like I need this crap?"

For a moment, Yang thought she saw genuine concern on Adrienne's face, but in an instant it was replaced by her customary false smile.

"I'll see what I can do. She'll get your message, one way or another. And speaking of messages…" she said, one hand rifling through a pile of papers in a bin on her desk. "Something came in the mail for you. Technically I should wait until the guards do the next mail distribution for your cellblock, but here – take it."

Adrienne held out a small off-white envelope in her hand. Yang hesitated – not wanting to accept any favors from Adrienne, but curiosity got the better of her. With two quick strides, Yang walked over the desk and snatched the letter out of Adrienne's hand.

Holding onto to it tightly, Yang glared back at Adrienne, still not quite in control of her anger.

For a moment, the room was filled with an awkward silence – neither one of the women moving.

But eventually, Adrienne spoke.

"If that's all, Yang, I think it's best if you leave. I was in the middle of something when you nearly broke down my door barging in here."

Yang still stood frozen for a second – the letter wrinkling around her tense fingers – but eventually her muscles thawed out one by one and she turned on her heel to leave.

Her hand on the doorknob, she grumbled over her shoulder a half-hearted "sorry" before opening the door and stepping back out into the hallway.

CO Quinn eyed her carefully as Yang closed the door to Adrienne's office behind her.

"You all set here, Xiao Long?" she asked.

"Yeah," murmured Yang.

"Then let's go," said Quinn, taking a firm hold of Yang's wrist – same as before – and twisting her arm behind her back. With her other hand coming up to grip Yang's shoulder, Quinn started to lead Yang back towards the main compound of the Birdcage.

But after a few steps, a hum of voices floated down towards Quinn and Yang. At the far end of the corridor, a bustle of people came marching towards them.

Immediately, Yang recognized Winter at the head of the group. On either side she was flanked by Atlesian Knights. From where she stood, Yang could catch bits of the group's conversation.

"Don't think I haven't noticed the uptake in contraband in the prison," she said, snapping at an attendant over her right shoulder.

Yang grimaced, remembering the drunken scene she'd just left behind.

"Specialist-" he said, starting to make an excuse.

"Don't even start with me Jenks – just figure out where the leaks are and _shut. them. down_ ," said Winter, her eyes pinched closed.

"Yes ma'am," muttered Jenks. Scurrying away, he peeled off from the main group.

Winter's eyes flicked open, scanning the hallway ahead. Noticing Yang, her gaze raked over her – making a note of her lack of restraints no doubt.

Yang winced when suddenly CO Quinn's icy grip tightened even further around her wrist. Glancing over, Yang saw that the Faunus's eyes were glued to Winter and the other soldiers from Atlas.

She could've been mistaken, but Yang thought she heard a low growl rumbling deep in Quinn's throat.

But she didn't have time to think more about it because the two groups were on top of each other. Quinn and Yang were forced to come to a halt – Winter and her forces were blocking the hallway in front of them.

"Specialist Schnee," said CO Quinn, acknowledging Winter with a slight tip of her head. To Yang, it sounded like there was an edge of resentment in her tone.

"CO," said Winter, returning the greeting. Her hands were clasped firmly behind her back.

A moment of awkward silence stretched between them. Yang looked back and forth between the two women, wishing she were anywhere but between them.

 _Yeesh what's the matter with them?_ she thought.

Eventually, everyone in the hallway seemed to take a breath when Winter broke the silence. Turning her eyes away from Quinn, she addressed Yang.

"How are you, Xiao Long?" she asked, her tone formal.

"I – um, fine I guess," said Yang, still feeling uncomfortable. Regardless, the longer she looked at Winter, the more she was reminded of Weiss. "And you can call me Yang, by the way."

Quinn's grip shifted on Yang's wrist and she couldn't help but flinch as her shoulder was wrenched even farther out of alignment, her hand twisted behind her back.

Winter's gaze followed the motion briefly before flicking back up to meet Yang's eye. Still not looking at Quinn, she said, "CO – where are you escorting the inmate? And why is she not shackled according to the new protocol?"

Her voice low, Quinn responded, "I didn't see the need for manacles, Specialist. I'm perfectly capable of taking one prisoner back to B Block without them."

"I'm sure you are," said Winter. "But from now on, I expect that you follow the new edicts. I and the representatives of the Warden's office put them in place for everyone's safety."

Yang listened to the exchange, noticing the slightly dismissive tone in Winter's voice.

When Quinn didn't respond, Winter continued.

"I believe that I can take the prisoner from here, CO. Thank you for escorting her this far. You're dismissed."

Yang didn't hear Quinn say anything but the pressure suddenly released from around her wrist. And after a second she heard a low grumbling and the clicking of boots on the linoleum floor as CO Quinn turned on her heel to leave.

Yang flinched, feeling the brush of Quinn's spiky hair poking into her back but in a moment, the sensation was gone.

As soon as the guard was out of sight, Winter dismissed the rest of her escort – sending them on ahead of her. Clomping and clanking along, the mixture of Atlesian Knights and soldiers shoved their way past Yang, disappearing down the hallway in the direction of the Warden's office.

However, one Knight paused briefly, brandishing a pair of manacles. Without any visible sign or command, the Knight automatically cuffed the cold silver chains around Yang's ankles and wrist before following in the footsteps of its comrades.

When they were alone, Winter turned to stand side by side with Yang, the two of them shoulder to shoulder in the hallway. Wordlessly, they started to walk down the hall, back towards B Block.

It was several minutes before either one of them spoke. Occasionally a guard or a cluster of inmates would pass them in the halls.

"So," said Yang, not sure of what else to say.

"So," repeated Winter, pensive. Her pace slowed, and she peered over at Yang. For a moment, she seemed to war with herself over something, but eventually she made a decision. "I'm not sure I should be telling you this…"

Her voice faded out, still dithering.

"Tell me what?" asked Yang, prodding gently.

"There's a lot that you're probably not aware of, trouble that's been stirring up in the kingdoms. Vale isn't the only one who faces desperate times. If I'm right, Mistral may have its own reasons to worry… Regardless," she said, seeming to circle back on topic. "Even with the difficulties of long distance travel, across kingdoms and otherwise, a new shipment is coming."

"A new shipment?" asked Yang, puzzled. "Of what? More Knights?"

Winter smiled weakly, shaking her head.

"No, not that kind of shipment. Briarcliff has ordered more monitors – and they should be on their way shortly. The ankle monitors are coming back."

"Oh," said Yang, her voice falling.

_Well at least it means the manacles will be going away soon, but still… how am I gonna train with those things coming back?_

_And how will I be able to defend myself? Without my semblance, and barely any control over my aura…_

Yang's mind flashed – images of the giant Nevermores tearing away at the walls of Briarcliff clogging her thoughts.

_I can't go through that again…_

Something of the dismay must have shown on her face because Winter's voice softened.

"Just consider this a… friendly word of warning. It won't happen overnight – even with military clearance these things take time. I just thought I'd give you a heads up," she said, pausing. After a moment, the hard edge returned to her tone, "And I trust that you'll keep this information to yourself – it wouldn't do to have it spreading all over the prison."

"Of course," mumbled Yang. Looking up, she saw that they'd arrived at the main gate that led into B Block. "This is my stop," she said, coming to a halt in the corridor.

Winter nodded, stopping beside her. With a word, she signaled up to the guard on duty who buzzed open the gate. A CO appeared on the other side to escort Yang to her cell.

"I'll leave you here then," said Winter, glancing over at the guard.

Yang nodded.

"Take care then, Yang," said Winter, turning and marching off down the hallway.

"Thanks," murmured Yang to Winter's back as she walked away.

For a moment, Yang simply watched her retreating figure, but the sudden pressure of the CO's hand on her arm seemed to wake her out of her trance. Startled, she nearly dropped the small envelope in her hand.

 _The letter_ , thought Yang, her mind shifting to focus solely on that one small object.

Suddenly, she was impatient to be back in her cell, where – hopefully – she could read the message in private.

Hurrying, Yang practically half-dragged the CO up the two flights of stairs and down the walkway to the cell she shared with Darrah, Laurel, and Cadeja. At one point, she nearly tripped over the chain dangling between the manacles around her ankles.

The guard muttered something gruff that Yang ignored. When they arrived at the cell, Yang was practically buzzing with impatience. She held out her hand expectantly, waiting to be uncuffed.

She didn't even feel the usual relief when the CO unshackled the restraints from around her limbs. Peeking into the cell, she saw that the other girls were all still at their work duties or wherever it was they were supposed to be at this time of day.

As soon as she was free, Yang slipped inside and plopped herself down on her mattress. Distantly, she registered the sound of her cell door grinding shut along its tracks, but the greater part of her attention was reserved for the letter she held in her hand.

Tearing it open, her heart fell when she saw it was just a small card – no more than four or five inches across. There was no letter – just a single sentence scrawled out in tidy black block letters:

" _SHE'S WORRIED ABOUT YOU."_

It was signed Ghira Belladonna.

* * *

Author's note: Okay so _a_ _lot_ of information all jammed into this chapter, laying major groundwork for the rest of this story arc (just like I did with the first four chapters of Volume 1). 

Also, next time I post two chapters to this story we will officially be caught up to what I've written so far and posted to fanfiction. 

As always, please feel free to reach out and let me know what you think of how the story's going! Any and all feedback is much appreciated. 


	17. The Phoenix Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Cadeja finally sit down to talk - but their discussion takes a turn for the worse when Cadeja sees Freya and Raya with something they shouldn't have. Later, the lark's voice finally returns to the Birdcage.

Behind Bars, _Volume 2_

Part Five: The Phoenix Down

* * *

"' _She's worried about you_ ' – what the hell does that even mean? She's worried about you…" muttered Yang, repeating the phrase to herself.

"What the hell you mumblin' about, Xiao Long?"

Yang jumped, almost forgetting that Cadeja was still sitting across from her.

"Oh – sorry," she said, snapping out of her train of thought.

They were sitting in the cafe at their usual table by the wall. What was left of Yang's dinner was a cold slop sitting on her tray. She'd drawn little circles in the gravy and mashed potatoes as she absentmindedly played with her spoon.

That night, Yang had made good on the promise she'd made to Cadeja before their sparring match: she'd explained the connection between Sasha, Adrienne, the tribe, and her mother. It had taken a while – talking about Raven was never simple – but Cadeja had seemed to take most of it in stride.

She'd even explained the nightmares – the one's where she'd see her mother's face, just before it was swallowed up by the wings of a giant Nevermore.

But once Yang had filled the Faunus in on how Sasha and Adrienne were keeping tabs on her for Raven, she'd drifted off into silence, her thoughts turning back to the message she'd received from Blake's father.

All that afternoon, Yang had filled the time between end of work duty and dinner by staring at the note, reading those four little words over and over again.

Sighing, she fished the note out of her pocket and laid it on the table between their trays, facing Cadeja so she could read it.

"This came for me today," she said, pushing the note forward. "It's from my teammate's father – you know, the one who disappeared without a trace after Beacon fell."

Cadeja's sharp green eyes narrowed, reading the message and in a flash she snapped it up from the table, holding it closer to her face.

"Holy mother of-" she gasped.

"Hey! What're you doing give that back!" said Yang, reaching for the note.

Cadeja held the note just out of reach, her eyes flicking up to study Yang.

"You never mentioned your partner was part of the Fang," hissed Cadeja, keeping her voice low.

Yang was momentarily taken aback by the strength of Cadeja's reaction.

"So what? And how the hell did you even figure that out?"

Cadeja turned the card so it was facing Yang. Her index finger was lined up with Ghira's signature.

" _That_. Right there," she said, as if it should be obvious. "Belladonna."

Yang stared at it, uncomprehendingly.

"Yeah, so? I don't get your point."

Cadeja rolled her eyes.

"De verdad, ave rota? _Belladonna_. He was the former head of the White Fang."

"Oh," said Yang, voice falling. "Blake never mentioned that her dad was quite that… connected."

 _Blake never mentioned a lot of things_ , thought Yang resentfully. _Sometimes, I can't help but think I overestimated just how close we really were… but still…_

"You really don't know nothin', do you?" asked Cadeja, handing the card back to Yang.

"Apparently not," muttered Yang.

"You keep that safe – put it somewhere ain't nobody gonna see it by accident. Name like that could give some people the wrong idea in here, me entiendes?"

"Yeah I got it," said Yang, tucking the note back into the pocket of her prison uniform.

For a moment, the two of them were silent – neither touching their food. But then, Cadeja asked her a question.

"So, Belladonna – his daughter was your partner back at Beacon? Black hair, cat Faunus, right?"

Yang looked at her, surprised.

"You know her?" she asked.

Cadeja shook her head.

"No – I've never met any of the Belladonnas. Just heard of them. All I know about your friend is that she was a tagalong for that guy Adam… Adam Taurus I think?"

Yang flinched and looked away, staring blindly at the far side of the cafe.

"Yup, that's his name," she said, still not meeting Cadeja's eye.

Cadeja looked at her curiously. After a moment, she reached out and touched Yang's hand – until then, Yang hadn't even noticed that she'd started crumpling up her napkin, basically shredding it to pieces.

"What's the matter?" asked Cadeja, her tone serious.

Yang glanced up at her.

"It's this," she said, raising what was left of her right arm. "He's the one who did it. Because of _her_."

Cadeja let her hand fall away from Yang's.

"Oh," she said, settling back in her seat. Her eyes never left Yang's face.

Yang's hand wandered over the wrinkled end of her right arm where the skin puckered and folded around the old wound. Her fingers played in circles on her skin, alternatingly numb and sensitive where the nerves were either damaged or healthy.

But after a moment, she snapped herself out of it and turned her attention back to Cadeja.

"Ok – enough of that. There was some stuff I wanted to ask you – I spilled my guts about Sasha and all that so now it's your turn. There was a bunch of Faunus drinking in the library earlier – looked like Judith was supplying some girls with booze, trying to recruit them for the Vertés. You got any idea what's up with that?"

"What girls?" asked Cadeja, looking concerned.

"Looked like a bunch of them were from A block. Freya was there," said Yang. "One of them was a fox Faunus – she seemed a little suspicious of Judith. She didn't buy her promises as easily as some of the others did."

"Wait, wait, wait – you said she was passin' out booze. What kind of promises you talking about? More goodies from the guards?"

Yang shook her head.

"No – not just that."

Cadeja looked at her expectantly, waiting for the rest of her answer.

"C'mon, spit it out ave rota!" she said, her impatience growing.

Yang tossed her hair and leaned in closer over the table.

"Judith was saying that the work crews have been getting close to the guards – obviously bringing in contraband and all that – but she also said that they could influence the transfers. Give a nudge towards who gets moved to a better facility or gets _out_ even."

Cadeja looked at her incredulously.

"Damn, the little Verté sure is talkin' a big game. Wonder what Leonie has to say about it."

"So you don't think it's true?" asked Yang.

Cadeja paused for a moment, looking pensive. As Yang watched, a looked stole over the wolf Faunus's face – it was almost like Cadeja couldn't even see her anymore.

"You know what, Xiao Long? I just don't know."

After that, the two of them stopped talking about anything heavy – avoiding subjects like the Vertés or Sasha. A few minutes went by, and it was just about time for D Block to line up to leave the mess hall.

As the mass of inmates slowly found their way towards the exit, inmates from A Block started to file in and line up to grab their dinner. Standing near the back of line, Yang recognized a group of inmates – Raya, Church, and Mirra.

Pointing them out to Cadeja, the two of them made their way towards them, all the while still following D Block's general movement towards the exit to line up.

"We still got a couple minutes," muttered Cadeja as she led the way over towards her sister and her friends. "Oye, hermanita!" she called out as they got closer, waving her hand to get Raya's attention.

"Cadeja!" exclaimed the younger girl, a smile breaking over her face. Stepping out of line, she rushed forward and hugged her sister, burying her head against Cadeja's chest like a child.

For a moment, a buzz of words passed between the two sisters that Yang couldn't quite follow, so she simply walked behind them until they rejoined the group still waiting in line. Looking up, Yang noticed that at first glance she'd overlooked Freya, standing close to the wall behind Church and Mirra.

"Hey, how are you?" said Yang, offering a polite greeting to the three.

Mirra simply looked over a Church, who smiled at Yang without her eyes ever quite focusing on her face. Freya seemed to acknowledge Yang with a quick nod, but she stayed in the background.

 _What a weird bunch_ … thought Yang.

Belatedly, Yang noticed that Freya was clutching something in her hands – just like before, in the library. Looking closer, she saw that she still had the candy bar – melted no doubt by now from being squeezed in her hands – and somehow, she'd also gotten hold of a pack of cigarettes. And not just any cigarettes – they were Pincoyas, the good kind.

"Hey Freya," said Yang cutting off whatever Cadeja had been saying to Church and the others, "how'd you get those?"

Cadeja looked irritated but stayed silent, following Yang's gaze to where Freya hugged the contraband against her chest.

"M-mmmm – Ma-mmmm," stuttered Freya. Swallowing, she tried again. "Mmm-mine."

"Qué pasó?" asked Raya, looking up at her sister.

Cadeja looked down at her briefly.

"Es el contrabando que tiene Freya," she said, indicating the objects in Freya's hands with her chin.

Raya looked over a Freya briefly, recognition dawning in her eyes. Yang watched as the young Faunus dug in her pockets for a moment before pulling out several chocolate bars of her own.

Holding them up, she showed them to the group.

"This?" she asked, hesitantly. "Is candy, yes?"

Yang flinched as something sped by her. As she reopened her eyes, she heard a sharp smack.

_Woah._

Looking over, she saw that Cadeja had struck Raya upside the head – not hard enough to do damage, but it was enough to bring tears to the nervous girl's eyes.

"Where did you get this?" growled Cadeja, barely containing her rage. Her anger had come on suddenly, flaring to life almost out of nowhere. "Tell me! Tonta, quién te dio estos?"

Cadeja had a firm hold of Raya's wrists, and she shook her hands slightly, nearly causing her to drop the chocolate bars.

Raya looked both stunned and scared as she tried to pull uselessly out of her sister's grasp. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mirra take a step forward but Church held up a hand – stopping her from interfering.

"I don't know!" cried Raya, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. "Ella fue una Faunus – de las Vertés! It was a girl with una cola – a tail? Like a cat," said the girl through her thick accent.

"Was it Judith?" demanded Cadeja, still holding her sister's wrists.

"Cadeja-" said Yang, hoping to calm her down.

"No, Xiao Long! Stay out of this," snapped the wolf Faunus.

Raya's shaggy white ears were pressed flat against her head, practically burying themselves in her hair.

Impatient, Cadeja tried asking again – finally bringing her tone back under control.

"Was it Judith? Did she have a broken tail – una cola rota?"

Her cheeks turning red and her lips pulled back in a grimace – no doubt trying to stop herself from crying – Raya simply nodded.

"Ay carajo, esa pendaja – es la última gota con ella!" spat Cadeja, releasing Raya.

Tentatively, Yang put a hand on Cadeja's shoulder. The wolf Faunus flinched but didn't shake her off.

"Cadeja," said Yang. "What's the matter? What happened? It's just candy – yeah Judith shouldn't be handing it out like this but still-"

"You don't get it, ave rota," growled Cadeja, her eyes closed. "I've seen this before – this isn't the first time somethin' like this has happened."

"I know," said Yang, trying to remember. "What was that thing you said in the Yard – the boogeyman? What was that other word you used?"

"El Cuco," said Cadeja, rolling her eyes. A momentary flash of amusement spread over her features, relaxing some of the tension in her face. "We really haven't worked on your castellano much lately, have we?"

"No, we haven't," said Yang, watching Cadeja carefully. "You gonna tell me who the boogeyman is now?" she asked expectantly.

Cadeja looked around at each member of their small group. For a moment, her eyes tarried over Freya, whose face was bright red. Her hands were starting to crush the carton of Pincoyas. At last, Cadeja's eyes settled on her sister.

"It's Kowalski," she said.

Freya let out a small yelp and shook her head furiously.

"Nnn-nnnooo," she stammered, holding up the candy and cigarettes in her hands. "I ggg-give – don't want t-t-ta ttt-o go wuh-wuh with K-kk… Ka-kkkk…."

Freya's voice got strangled in her throat, unable to finish saying the name. Something hard glinted in Cadeja's eyes as she watched the cowering girl.

Stepping forward, Cadeja put a hand on Freya's shoulder.

"What is it? What did I miss?" asked Yang, feeling lost.

"That beast, he did it to her too," muttered Church.

Yang looked back at her. Apparently, this was news to everyone – not just her.

"Dígame," said Cadeja, her eyes focusing on Freya. "Is that why you held on to this stuff? To bribe the guards in case _he_ was supposed to escort you or somethin'?"

Freya looked around at each of the other girls, uncertain. But after a moment, she glanced up at Cadeja for half a second and nodded once.

"Ddd-don't wuh-want-ta g-gg-goo w-wa-with Kkk-ka…" she said, her hands shaking.

Cadeja's mouth hardened into a flat line, but she forced her voice to stay soft as she spoke to the skittish rabbit Faunus.

"Shh – tonta, they don't need those. The guards can get this stuff anytime they want," said Cadeja, gently taking the contraband from Freya's hands.

Sagging, Freya yielded and let Cadeja take the now-sticky objects out of her hands. Yang could see bits of melted chocolate leaking through one of the wrappers.

Behind her, Raya looked down at the candy in her hand, her mouth dropped open in surprise. After a moment, a look of something like shame or guilt passed over her face, and she nudged her sister, prodding her to take the chocolate bars away.

Watching the scene, a puzzle she'd long been trying to solve started to put itself together in Yang's head. It had always bothered her that Cadeja seemed to hate Kowalski – other than being a little rougher than some of the other guards, Yang couldn't find a reason why. But one thing had always stuck in her mind.

It was something Cadeja had said that night in the Rec Center – the one where she'd picked a fight with Freya for touching Raya, just after the young Faunus had arrived in the Birdcage.

After she'd bit Kowalski, she'd said something along the lines of ' _you still taste as bad as you look._ '

Finally, Yang figured out what had bothered her about that.

 _Still. Like she'd…_ tasted _… him before._

As it clicked together in her mind, a shiver shook violently up Yang's spine, and for a moment she felt numb.

Raya seemed to be putting the same thing together in her mind, because she reached out and held onto her sister's arm.

"Cadeja," she muttered, fresh tears flooding into her eyes. "Qué te pasó?"

But Cadeja didn't seem to hear her sister. She was looking at the wall over Freya's shoulder, practically shaking with rage. Leaning around the quivering girl, she dumped the contraband in a nearby trashcan and wiped her hands on the pants of her khakis.

"D BLOCK INMATES!" bellowed the voice of a guard in the exit to the cafe. "LINE IT UP FOR CUFFS! MEAL TIME'S OVER!"

Casting a glance over the growing crowd, Yang saw several COs start to cuff girls for transport.

"Cadeja," she said, putting her hand on Cadeja's arm, "we gotta go."

For a moment, Cadeja didn't say anything – but Yang could hear a low growl building in her throat. Her head jerked up and she stared at Church – all of her fury plain on her face.

"You were supposed to look out for them," she said.

Church looked back at the wolf Faunus, her eyes narrowing – looking more focused that usual.

"And I did – but I'm not with them every minute of the day."

"Well YOU NEED TO DO BETTER!" roared Cadeja. If it weren't for Yang and Raya's hands on her, she would've been right up in Church's face. "This is my sister Church. My _sister_. She's barely fifteen! What the hell does she know? YOU NEED TO KEEP AN EYE ON HER WHEN I CAN'T!"

Mirra looked angry – a dark look passing over her face but Church looked perfectly calm.

"Cadeja – c'mon we gotta go," urged Yang, tugging lightly on her arm.

Cadeja simply ignored her and kept yelling at Church.

"I _need_ you to do better Church! You hear me? Say _somethin_ ' dammit!"

Church's face remained expressionless, but she finally opened her mouth.

"You need to watch that anger, Cadeja. It's gonna get you in trouble again if you're not careful."

"Dammit Church!" yelled the wolf Faunus.

"Okay – that's it, we gotta go," said Yang, taking charge. Pulling harder, she finally started to move Cadeja in the direction of the exit.

Hearing the guards call out again for D Block, Cadeja finally started to move towards the line of inmates on her own, but not before pulling Raya in for a quick hug.

"Never again, me entiendes?" she said quickly to her sister under her breath. "No tomes ninguna parte del contrabando."

Raya nodded, watching after her sister as she and Yang moved away.

When they were out of earshot, Yang looked over at Cadeja and saw that she was still barely in control. But unable to stop herself, she risked asking her a question.

"So that's it, isn't it? Why the stuff the work crews have been doing has you so worried. Kowalski assaulted you – and Freya – the last time this sort of thing happened, didn't he?"

Cadeja cast a sidelong glance at her through narrowly slitted eyes.

"Yes, Xiao Long. He did. What did you think those girls were doing to win favors with the guards?" she asked.

Yang simply looked back at her. She didn't have an answer.

"Sure, some of it is false promises – some of it's even favors that get traded around between the guards and some of the inmates' outside connections. But some of it is sex, ave rota. It's just about all a lot of these girls have to offer in here."

Yang hesitated.

"…and you? Did you…?"

She couldn't finish the question.

"No, Xiao Long. What happened wasn't my choice. Or Freya's. Poor girl hasn't got a clue – it's a miracle she's still standing upright on her feet as it is."

Yang nodded, still processing it all.

"Let's just say Kowalski got a little too comfortable with what he could get away with in here – and he started taking things that weren't offered to him. This is exactly the sort of thing I was worried about with Raya."

"But nothing's happened yet, right? All she did was accept some candy from Judith."

"Yeah. _Yet_ ," said Cadeja. "She was never supposed to be here. Raya _promised_ me she wouldn't get involved! She was supposed to do better than me, and keep her ass outta places like this."

Yang wanted to ask Cadeja what exactly she was talking about, but looking ahead of them she decided it was better to keep her mouth shut.

It wouldn't be a good idea to set her off again – not with Leonie Verté standing ten feet in front of them.

 _Oh crap_ … thought Yang, coming to a halt.

It only took Cadeja a couple seconds longer than Yang to notice the tall mountain cat Faunus standing towards the back of the crowd waiting to be cuffed.

Panicking, Yang threw herself in front of Cadeja, cutting her off.

"Cadeja don't do this," she said, keeping her voice low so others wouldn't hear.

"Move it, ave rota," growled Cadeja. "I'm not gonna do nothin' stupid like start another fight."

Her eyes bored into Yang's.

"Just walk away from this," said Yang, almost pleading.

"Can't do that. She's gotta know," said Cadeja. With that, she reached up and shoved Yang out of the way.

"Hey-" said Yang, but she was too late.

"Leonie!" said Cadeja. "Ven acá!"

Leonie turned her head toward the sound of Cadeja's voice, her long sandy-blonde hair spilling over her shoulder. Seeing the wolf Faunus, she closed the gap between them with a few quick strides.

"Cadeja – what's happened?" asked Leonie, taking in Cadeja's furious look with one glance.

"The fuck are you up to?" spat Cadeja, spittle flying off of her lips.

Leonie wiped her face, irritation flashing in her eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about, Álvarez?"

"You're sister's been passin' around that shit you and your crew have been sneakin' in through the guards. It's found its way to A block. To _Raya_ ," said Cadeja, her tone dangerously low.

Yang looked around. Some of the girls nearby had stopped to listen, but for the most part the inmates and guards didn't seem to notice what was going on. Yang doubted that Cadeja was using her semblance – the babble of the crowd just seemed loud enough to cover up their exchange.

All around them, Yang could hear the clatter of different conversations getting mashed together in the crowd. Trying to reassure herself, she found that she had to focus intently on any one conversation to pick up what the other girls were actually saying.

But somewhere in the back of all, Yang heard a familiar sound floating through the crowd. However – at least for the moment – she couldn't seem to pin it down.

"Cadeja! You need to be careful where you start talking shit," said Leonie, copying Yang as she glanced around at the other girls.

"Yeah? Well you and your sister need to be careful or else we're gonna have a repeat of what happened last time. I already warned you once Leonie – and I _won't_ have my sister pulled into it."

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about Álvarez," hissed Leonie. "I had no idea Judith was passing shit out to girls from A Block – never mind to _children_. Whatever happened, it wasn't on my orders."

Yang saw the muscles in Cadeja's arms flex, her hands were tensed – her fingers arching like claws.

"The fact that _any_ of this shit is happenin' on your orders is the problem Leonie. You're playin' a dangerous game – and a damn stupid one too."

Yang missed what Leonie said next when a girl bumped into her from behind.

"Hey!" shouted Yang reflexively.

The girl – a tall woman with flaming red hair looked down at her with a snarl, exposing her teeth.

"Woah, hey sorry – no big deal," said Yang, holding up her hand and backing away.

It had only taken a few seconds, but when she turned around, she saw that several girls had squeezed between her and where Cadeja stood with Leonie. Looking through the mass of bodies, Yang saw that Cadeja was standing even closer to the taller Faunus – her face practically shoved up into Leonie's. Her hands were still by her sides, but they were quivering with rage.

"Dammit," Yang grumbled to herself as she started to edge around the intervening group of inmates and make her way back over to Cadeja. But the more she tried to shove her way through, the more people seemed to get in her way.

"Heard that fucking B Block gets the first showers again tomorrow," griped one girl to her left.

Yang peered around her and strained to hear – trying to pick back up the thread of Leonie and Cadeja's conversation. But all she could hear were the babbling voices of the girls around her, and again she heard something else that sounded familiar in the background.

"S'bout time they got us a Faunus guard in here."

"Yeah no shit – racist pricks took their sweet time with that one…"

"Hey Diana! Hey – over here!"

"Girl – da hell you yellin' about?"

" _This is how she rises!_ "

"You hear that?" said a short woman standing in front of Yang.

"Hear what?" asked the girl beside her.

Still trying to shove her way through the clot of inmates, Yang realized what it was that she was hearing – it was the lark; her voice was slipping in pieces through the crowd.

" _Standing in the embers, eyes like fire."_

A girl hollered to Yang's right, startling her.

" _See now how she rises! Shadows clinging to her, feasting from her."_

Yang pushed her way past the short girl and her companion in front of her.

" _Savage fanatics. Life-like addicts-"_

 _I can hear her – where the heck is she?_ thought Yang. Even after two months, she'd still never figured out who exactly the lark was – this was the first she'd even heard her voice since the attack. Until now, Yang had been thinking she'd died or been wounded by the Grimm.

" _Boiled in blood they'll eat her ashes."_

"Hey! Rude," exclaimed a tan-skinned girl as Yang pushed past her. Still listening to the lark's song, she finally made it back over to Cadeja.

"Cadeja, just cool it – I'll look into it," said Leonie. Clearly, she was still trying to get Cadeja to calm down. "Besides, some weird shit has been gettin' back to me from some of the girls who got moved out…"

"You'd better do somethin' about it – or I'll be the one talkin' to Judith. You hear me?"

" _This the Phoenix Down!"_

Leonie glared down at Cadeja, her nose wrinkling up in distaste.

"You remember your place, _Álvarez_. This is my business – now calm the fuck down."

For a moment, the two Faunus merely stared at one another – both red faced and practically shaking, but then Leonie turned on her heel and shoved her way through a group of Faunus standing between her and the exit. Recognizing who she was, the group parted to let her pass.

" _Her back is broken, still she'll rise up."_

"Puta madre," spat Cadeja.

"You okay?" mumbled Yang, still distracted as she searched the crowd for the woman who was singing.

Cadeja glared at her.

"Just dandy, Xiao Long."

" _Rise up!"_

Yang cast a worried glance at her friend, but Cadeja simply shook her head.

"Not gonna take it back now, ave rota. What's done is done."

Cadeja's words did nothing to reassure her. Another note drifted above the voice of the crowd, and Yang leaned closer to Cadeja.

"You hear that?"

"Hear what? Da fuck you talkin' about?" said Cadeja, her tone gruff. Some of her anger still hadn't dissipated.

" _This is how she rises! Standing in the embers, eyes on fire."_

"That!" said Yang.

Cadeja's ears swiveled on top of her head.

"You stuck on that songbird of yours again?" asked the wolf Faunus.

Yang simply nodded and held up a finger – signaling her to be quiet and listen.

" _See now if she rises! Wings unbound but broken…_ "

"Seriously, Xiao Long? We got other things to worry about," said Cadeja.

"Shh!" exclaimed Yang, almost missing the last words of the song.

" _She must learn to fly!"_

After that last line, the lark's voice rang in the air for a moment before it faded out and yielded back to the clamor of the crowd.

"Crap," mumbled Yang. "I can't see who it was."

"Why does it matter?" asked Cadeja, still slightly annoyed at Yang's change of subject.

For whatever reason, Yang couldn't help but feeling a little sad.

"I guess it doesn't," she whispered.

"Get your head outta the clouds, ave rota. Your lark or whatever she is can wait."

Yang nodded her head dumbly.

"What exactly happened between you and Leonie just now? I missed some of it when I got pushed back in the crowd."

Cadeja paused for a moment before answering her.

"Let's just say I gave her a friendly warning about some of the shit her sister's been up to. I'm not so sure that old mountain cat has as firm a handle on Judith as she thinks she does."

Yang raised an eyebrow at her.

"You think Judith is going rogue or something?" she asked.

Cadeja shrugged, her eyes staring through the crowd in the direction which Leonie had disappeared.

"No idea, Xiao Long. It would certainly be a first. But then again, this is the Birdcage. Anythin' is possible in here."


	18. Cornered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day Yang has dreaded has finally come: the monitors are coming back to the Wilds. Tensions continue to rise around the Faunus and the work crews, and seeing more contraband circulating through the prison drives Yang to confront an unexpected source: Sasha.

Behind Bars, _Volume 2_

Part Six: Cornered

* * *

Things stayed quiet for a week. But only a week.

And then the day that Yang had half-dreaded and half-waited for came. The day she thought would be tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow into an infinity of tomorrows.

The day the monitors came back to the Wilds.

 _Sometimes_ , she thought to herself, _with everything that has happened, I can almost forget where I am._

 _I can almost – just_ almost _– pretend that I'm not here._

_That I'm not a prisoner._

_Not branded as a criminal. Not neatly packed away by society, boxed up far away from those who would fear me. Hate me. For what am I and what they've seen me do._

_Or_ think _they've seen me do._

_Right?_

_Because I didn't…_

The ghost of the video, of that day in the Vytal Tournament – that little wraith of self-doubt snaked up inside of Yang. It wasn't something she still thought about often, but it was never gone from her either.

Not in this place, at least.

It was this little pearl of fear – this living _thing_ that existed inside her. Looking at it was like staring into a void, a widening hole, a blackness, the maw of the Nevermore in her dreams – a piece of herself she thought she knew, but couldn't prove to herself, her family, her friends, her jailers – she couldn't prove it to anyone: that she was innocent.

That she didn't belong here.

That this wasn't supposed to be her life.

That she was supposed to protect and defend, to fight the creatures of Grimm, the monsters that stalked the world of Remnant, threatening each and every life that crawled up out of the muck of existence to dwell on the earth's surface in the light of day – only to be haunted by its fear of the dark.

Yang's thoughts swirled in dark circles, her mood quickly falling and her mouth settling into a tight line. Standing in the wide open floor space at the center of first floor B Block, she stared over and around the milling crowd of bobbing heads and chattering mouths that stood between her and the COs unloading and organizing crate after crate of new Atlas-issued ankle monitors.

That morning, all of the inmates had been roused by the voices of the COs as the lights flickered on. The guards sounded gleeful – anticipating the relief, the sense of normalcy that would return for them once the monitors were back in place.

They'd sent the original B Block inmates off to the mess hall for breakfast, and detained the D block inmates, gathering them in the long, rectangular space between the rows of cells on level one.

At first they hadn't known what was going on. Girls jockeyed for better views of the crates, arguing about what they thought was inside.

Only Yang knew. Only she'd been warned, thanks to Winter.

She had expected outrage. She'd expected shouting. She'd half expected some of the girls to get stupid and riot when they saw the monitors.

But what happened was different. As the inmates in front saw what was being pulled out of the boxes, hurried whispers swept back through the crowd of girls from the Wilds. From one to the next, the news passed back along the rows of inmates, and a hush followed on the heels of the whispers, most of the girls growing silent and still.

They were resigned. Some might have even felt comforted – eager to pretend that everything was like it had been before. That nothing had ever happened. That the Grimm had never come.

When word of the monitors reached Yang and Cadeja, she peered over at the Faunus to gauge her reaction.

They weren't standing side by side as they usually did. Aware of what was coming, Yang had been sucked in by her own thoughts, even as the girls around her tried to push forward for a better look. Gradually, they'd been separated by several yards of sweating bodies and bed-rumpled prison uniforms.

But Yang could still see Cadeja's face. Her eyes narrowed into sharp, little green slits and Yang suspected that Cadeja was watching everything that was happening at the far end of B Block, "borrowing" some of the guards' sight with her semblance.

When the whispers about the monitors finally reached their part of the crowd Yang saw her nod, chin bobbing once as if in confirmation of what she already knew.

Then, as the girls quieted – all staring in the general direction of the COs – Yang watched something sad slip over Cadeja's features. Perhaps unconsciously, her hand came up and touched her brow, just over one of her eyes – as if saying goodbye, preparing to lose the extraordinary gift that aura gave her.

Yang found herself chewing on her lower lip, her fingers fiddling with the edge of the fabric from the bottom of her shirt. For a moment, she was distracted by a clear, deep-voiced shout that arced over the crowd.

"Inmates of D Block! Form two lines!"

A handful of guards trickled through the crowd, ushering girls into two loosely formed lines. However, several pockets of inmates loitered in large groups, slow to move into the gradually forming columns that ran parallel to the two opposing rows of cells.

"Hey!" shouted a female guard. "I said move it!"

Yang turned her head towards the sound of the CO's voice, eyes scanning the crowd. The guard was short, so she was half-hidden in the press of bodies, but Yang eventually spotted her trying to usher a group of Faunus into line.

Yang's eyes narrowed. Judith Verté leered down at the guard, her chin jutted forward and her arms crossed over her chest. She was ringed by a group of Faunus – all wearing the green coveralls of the work crews. Following Judith's lead, they ignored the guard's instructions to form a line.

Yang studied the face of each of the women backing Judith. Most affected a calm look of confidence, but Yang could see through some of them. They hesitated – unsure how long they could get away with defying the CO without getting themselves written up, or worse.

One girl – a rather pale looking Faunus with small ears perched on the crown of her head like a rodent's – took a step back and, after another moment's pause, relented. Turning her back on Judith, she queued up behind the other inmates.

Judith rolled her eyes, showing off perhaps just a little _too_ much how disaffected she was by the girl's betrayal.

"Inmates! In line _now_ unless you want a chit!"

Another couple girls wavered, starting to lose their confidence. But Judith simply examined her nails, as if the guard hadn't said a word.

The guard pulled out her baton but kept it by her side. Looking around, she waved another CO over to help.

But before the other guard could make his way over, another voice rang out.

"Judith!" barked Leonie, a thinly controlled rage coloring her tone. "That's enough!"

The giant mountain cat Faunus strode over to the group, looming over most of the other girls. But Judith looked away, trying to ignore her sister's approach. However, Yang saw her cheeks redden and her eyebrows knit together – betraying her anger.

Leonie's lip curled up into a snarl but she didn't address her sister again. Clearly, a rift had been driven between them, and now wasn't the time to air the family's dirty laundry.

Leonie peered down at the guard, examining the small woman for a moment before nodding to the Faunus from the work crews.

"Let's go," she said, leading them away from Judith.

Through half-closed eyes, Judith watched them go. The guard still looked at her uncertainly, not entirely sure of what had just happened. But her baton remained drawn, her shoulders squared to Judith.

Judith snorted and tossed her hair, turning her back on the guard but taking care not to meet her sister's eye as she strode forward to join the line.

Ignoring the Faunus who had only moments before stood with her, she strode past them and cut the line. Shoving her way through, Yang saw Judith clip Cadeja's shoulder as she elbowed her way through the line of inmates, away from her sister.

"Hey! Oye, cabrona watch where you're goin'!" shouted Cadeja, her eyes boring into the back of Judith's head.

Judith didn't turn her head, but over her shoulder she hissed, "Stay out of this Álvarez you little bitch."

Yang froze, dread sinking in her gut. She saw the outrage plain on Cadeja's face, her wolf's ears bristling on top of her head.

She was about to shout her friend's name when a guard stepped in front of her, backing her towards the line of inmates that had formed behind her. Trying to look around the guard, Yang slowly allowed herself to be backed into the line of inmates that ran parallel to the one where Cadeja and Judith were – but whatever passed between the two of them next she missed.

By the time the guard had moved along, Judith had moved father up the line – leaving Cadeja behind her. However, the wolf Faunus's eyes were still trained on the back of Judith's head, two glaring green slits that flashed in the light of the fluorescents.

 _If looks could kill_ … thought Yang, still worrying.

Meanwhile, guards still moved farther back through B Block, trying to form the inmates into two lines.

"LADIES!" shouted the guard with the deep voice. "Settle down and form two lines dammit! This ain't rocket science."

But after a moment – even before the last girls had been corralled along the sides of level one – the lines started to crawl forward as the first inmates had brand new monitors clapped around their ankles.

Here and there a few women mumbled to their companions as they waited, but mostly girls just stared over and around one another, trying to get a better look.

Even though they knew what was coming, even though they all knew exactly what the monitors were and what it felt like to have one clamped in a vise around their ankles, there was just some deep urge to look – to see their fate coming forward, almost as if it would sneak up on them if they looked away.

Yang tried to ignore it, but the memory of the burning pain that blossomed up through the muscles and veins in her leg, shooting up into her chest and wrapping its little claws around her heart – the memory of every muscle in her body locking into place, her jaw jamming shut and her eyes rolling back into her head – it flooded into her mind at just the thought of the monitors.

She remembered the fear, and the panic, and waking up when it was all over – after the electric shock had wormed its way past her aura and wrestled her into unconscious submission. She remembered the pain on Cadeja's face just before she threw up, dizzily rising up into a sitting position beside Yang against the bars of their cell…

Yang shook her head, shivering. She hated the manacles they locked around her wrist and ankles every time she left B Block, but she hated the monitors more. Before her monitor had been triggered, it had simply been this _thing_ , this _inconvenience_. But after she'd felt what it could do, it became a reminder – of her weakness, her defenselessness.

Her inability to fight and protect herself.

It became a prison within a prison, another thing that chained her to the ground.

Yang hugged herself with her one good arm as she looked around at the other inmates within her line of sight. As the lines marched forward, fewer and fewer women jockeyed for a better view.

Many of them looked resigned and sad. Some even looked afraid. Yang saw one girl shivering uncontrollably every time she took another step closer to the crates and the waiting COs.

 _These are the aura users of the prison_ , thought Yang. _They know what it's like to wield a power that many people just can't imagine…_

Past memories of using her own semblance surged forward as she remembered the utter joy of the fight, the feeling of unparalleled strength burning in her limbs.

_It's not easy to relinquish all that. Especially not in a place like this, and especially not after everything that's happened._

Yang's line inched forward again. Looking across to the other side, she saw that Cadeja was ahead of her – nearly to the crates. The Faunus's ears laid flat against her head and her eyes were trained on the floor.

After a moment, Cadeja stepped forward and she was next in line to meet the COs, wielding a freshly unpackaged monitor.

Yang looked away, not wanting to watch.

But looking ahead, she saw that she didn't have much time left either. A half dozen girls stood between her and her turn with the guards.

At the front of the line, Yang saw Sasha and Roxie. The little blonde had just had a monitor locked into place around her ankle, but instead of moving to the next area as the guards waved her forward, she stood and waited for Sasha.

Yang could just make out Sasha's long black ponytail as it swished from side to side and she sidled up to the crates. Her hands rested on her cocked hips, and she leered down at the guard configuring the next monitor. Looking closer, Yang saw that Sasha's fingers were digging into her own skin as they clawed deeper into her sides.

Yang remembered the sound of flapping wings – a small black bird buzzing around her head, a blur of feathers in her face. Then the sound of the Nevermore roaring as it dove towards her through the Yard.

 _Some are losing even more than others, I guess_ …

A guard fitted the monitor to Sasha's ankle, locking it into place. She glared down at it, her nose wrinkling in disgust and her mouth pulled back in a lip-curling snarl.

When she received the all clear, she stomped off, tugging Roxie with her and disappearing into the crowd of girls waiting to be escorted to the showers.

Five girls. Then four. Three, two, one.

And it was Yang's turn.

Shuffling forward, she saw several guards that she recognized. The Faunus guard – CO Quinn – was helping out with the other line. But lifting monitors out of boxes at the head of her line though was CO Reilly. Every few seconds he snuffled and wiped his nose with the back of his hand, like he was nursing a cold.

Standing several feet behind him was a ring of other guards, pretending to look busy. Amongst them was Kowalski, with his neatly trimmed sideburns and carefully manicured fingernails. As he spoke, he flashed a series of yellow teeth.

Yang recoiled, images of him and Cadeja and Freya and who knows how many other girls flashing through her mind.

"Inmate," chided Reilly, a monitor held at the ready just inches from her ankle.

Already on the defensive, Yang had to fight with the muscles in her leg not to back away any farther. Knowing now what she did about contraband and the promises girls exchanged for it, Yang didn't trust Reilly any more than she trusted Kowalski.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to stay still while Reilly adjusted the size of the monitor's main cuff, eyeing Yang's leg as he prepared to fit the device to her ankle.

As she felt the cold metal make contact with her skin she looked away, staring straight ahead. Beyond the ring of milling COs, Yang noticed Atlas military personnel standing in the back. A few of them seemed to be helping pass more crates forward, full of monitors yet to be unloaded.

But most of them stood at attention in a single group, observing everything that was going on. At the head of this group was Winter.

As Reilly's fingers brushed against her skin, Yang winced and her hand balled into a fist – fighting to stay still. The monitor pinched her ankle, and she felt her eyes water.

Scanning the room, Winter's eyes met Yang's for a moment. Winter didn't say anything; she simply maintained her post – her posture stick-straight as always. But Yang saw a genuine look of sorrow blanche over her features.

They held each other's gaze for another moment, Yang held by the sympathy she saw in Winter's eyes.

But then it was over. Reilly released her ankle and ordered her to move forward and join the other inmates waiting for the showers.

Stepping forward into the crowd, Yang lost sight of Winter. Looking around, she found that Cadeja was nowhere to be seen either.

Alone, and waiting for the hundred or so other inmates who still hadn't been saddled with their new monitors yet, Yang looked down at the thing around her ankle.

It was much the same as the old one, although the band was perhaps a little thinner, the design becoming sleeker and more streamlined in this newer incarnation. Her eyes studied the little green light, and for a moment it was like it stared back at her. Knowing. Watching. Waiting for her to step out of line.

Still staring down at it, a numb feeling crept over Yang's chest.

It would be a long time before she could close her eyes and pretend again that she wasn't here. That she was at home, and this was all just a distant, and terrible dream.

* * *

The next day, Yang found herself out in the Yard, sitting in the bleachers to the east of the giant oak tree. She sat alone, sunning herself in the warm rays of light that managed to filter down through the protective force field above.

Half of D Block were at their work assignments, and half were in the Yard for rec time with the girls from B Block. Cadeja was working down in the laundry room, and there wasn't really anyone else that Yang wanted to talk to.

Not that she trusted any of them any ways, especially not these days.

Opening one of her eyes, Yang watched a few girls from the work crews start to clear away the pile of rubble that had been Yang and Cadeja's cover when they'd sparred last week. The women in green worked slowly, mostly stopping to chat with one another. It would be weeks before they cleared the pile.

Bored, Yang closed her eye again and tilted her face up towards the sun, enjoying the warmth. She leaned back on the bleachers, supporting some of her weight on her hand.

For a few moments there was nothing but the reddish-purple light she could see from the sun slipping through the thin skin of her eyelids and a gentle breeze of air being circulated through the Yard, whispering softly as it brushed over her skin. To the rest of the world, it probably looked like she was asleep.

But then she heard a weak metallic groan and something _clanked_ a few feet below her. Sitting up straighter and opening her eyes, Yang saw a girl with dirty-blonde hair and pale white skin sitting on the bottom row of the bleachers, her back to Yang.

As Yang's eyes readjusted to the sunlight, she squinted, recognizing the girl.

 _Laurel_ … thought Yang, recognizing her new cellmate.

The girl seemed to ignore Yang sitting above her, but her head swiveled back and forth – as if scanning the Yard. Curious, Yang leaned back and let her eyes close again, pretending she hadn't heard the girl sit down. But every so often, she'd peek out from under her half-lidded eyes to see what Laurel was doing.

For several minutes, the mysteriously quiet girl followed the same pattern: first she'd watch the east side of the Yard, and then the west. Once in a while, she stopped to scrutinize one inmate or another, and then she'd cast a quick glance over her shoulder. One time, she nearly caught Yang watching her.

But eventually, the pattern changed. Her eyes closed, Yang didn't so much _see_ it as she did _hear_ it.

There was a small crinkling sound, like thin plastic rustling. Then a protesting squeak followed by a small _pop_.

Ears perking up, Yang sat up straight and opened her eyes – abandoning her cover. As she did, the subtle smell of something sweet wafted over her, and unconsciously her mouth started to water.

_What in the…_

Looking down, Yang saw Laurel fidgeting with something in her lap, her shoulders hunched forward as if to curl herself around her prize protectively. Trying to move carefully, so as not to cause the bleachers to squeal underneath her, Yang peered over Laurel's shoulder.

"Holy _crap_!" said Yang, not meaning to speak out loud.

"Wha-" squeaked Laurel, practically jumping out of her skin. Automatically, her hands covered the small brightly colored package in her lap. Looking behind her, she saw Yang staring down at her intently.

"Y-Yang!" she exclaimed. "I thought…"

"You thought I was asleep, right?" said Yang, climbing down the bleachers to sit next to her.

Laurel tried to scoot away, farther down the bench, but Yang wouldn't let her put too much distance between them.

Leaning in close, she hissed, "Where the hell did you get _that_?"

With her finger she pointed at the package Laurel was currently trying to hide in her lap. It was a small, dark chocolate cake with bright blue and white ribbons of frosting laced over its top. Inside, Yang knew there'd be a thick, yellow buttercream filling.

The instant she'd seen the package she'd recognized it – it was an individually wrapped devil's food cake from Peregrine's, one of the largest wholesale producers of baked goods in Vale.

She'd loved them as a child, and often daydreamed about them while eating the grayish slop that passed for food in the mess hall.

But there was no way Laurel had gotten it from the cafeteria or one of the vending machines in Briarcliff. That chocolate little gold mine was contraband.

Looking down at the unwrapped cake in her lap, Laurel avoided Yang's eye and ignored her question.

Studying her Yang, tried to puzzle it out.

_She definitely didn't get it from Darrah – and that's just about the only girl I've ever seen Laurel hang around with in here. But not by choice – Laurel seems scared of her._

_But how in the world would she get it from Judith or one of her girls? I just don't get it…_

"Laurel," said Yang, trying again, "Where did you get that? Was it the Vertés? Are they passing stuff to humans now too?"

Laurel hesitated – her eyes looking around as if everyone in the Yard was watching them. But of course, they weren't. To the rest of them, it was just two girls sitting in the bleachers.

But then once – quickly – Laurel shook her head.

"No, it wasn't them," she said, her voice deeper than Yang would've imagined. It struck her that this was the first time she'd heard Laurel say more than just a word or two.

Yang looked dumbstruck.

"Then who?"

Laurel squirmed in her seat, trying to shift herself farther away from Yang again. She even started to half-rise off of the bench, but Yang slid forward and shoved her back down, her fingers digging into the girl's bony shoulder.

"Who was it?" whispered Yang again, her tone insistent.

Reluctantly, Laurel's eyes slid over to meet Yang's. For the first time Yang noticed little gold flecks in the girl's green eyes.

When Laurel finally did answer, Yang had to strain just to hear her.

"…it was Sasha's friend…"

Yang sucked in a breath –

 _Sasha? But where the hell did_ she _get it?!_

Yang's mind started racing. Laurel watched her face go from shocked to stunned to even a little angry. The girl looked at her with something like fear in her eyes, scooting away from Yang again to the point where she nearly fell off the edge of the bleachers.

Yang's head snapped up and she rose into a standing position. She heard Laurel mumble something behind her, but didn't catch the exact words. She was too busy scanning the faces in the Yard.

And when she found the one she wanted, she went stomping off across the field – leaving a confused looking Laurel behind her.

Heading west, Yang marched past the scarred oak tree and even shoved her way past a couple of the idling girls from the work crew. A slightly bored looking CO cast her a curious glance, but then his eyes slid away and glazed back over with a daydream.

Yang was striding over to a small cluster of girls, in the center of which were Sasha and Roxie. Looking over at the approaching blonde, Sasha's eyes betrayed a brief flash of confusion that quickly disappeared behind her usual look of affected derision.

Pushing her way into the middle of the group, Yang squared her shoulders to Sasha, her chin jutting forward defiantly.

"I need to talk to you," she said, her voice commanding.

Sasha laughed once, rolling her eyes. But she recognized the seriousness in Yang's demeanor, and nodded to the other girls ringed around them.

"No worries, we're all good," she said, projecting a sense of carelessness and jerking her chin once, indicating that the others should leave.

Some of the girls seemed hesitant, but they followed Sasha's orders – and after a moment the group dispersed, heading off towards different parts of the Yard. Only Roxie remained.

Yang glared at the small, icy blonde girl but she just stared back defiantly. Clearly she wasn't going anywhere.

Clenching her jaw and shaking her head, Yang turned her attention back to Sasha.

"How the hell are you sneaking shit in?" hissed Yang. "No way you got it from the Vertés – they wouldn't help you out in a million years."

Sasha's eyes narrowed and Yang noticed a vein throbbing just above her temple.

"I don't know what you're talking about, little Yang."

"Like hell you don't," scoffed Yang, her eyes hardening. "I just saw a girl with contraband – a _human_ girl. She said she got it from one of your crew – not the Vertés."

Sasha leaned forward, trying to tower over Yang – but there was only a couple inches' difference between their heights.

"Who's going around saying shit like that?" demanded Sasha, her voice low.

" _Where. Did. You. Get. It?_ " spat Yang, ignoring Sasha's question. Feeling brave, she decided to shove her face right back into Sasha's, trying to show that she wouldn't be the first to break.

But it wasn't much of a victory. Sasha rolled her eyes and leaned back on her heels, looking down at Yang with something liked mixed curiosity and irritation.

"Why do you even care, Xiao Long?" she asked.

"Because it's dangerous – and this stuff is spreading to girls who have no idea what they're getting in to."

"But you do?" quipped Sasha, her eyes briefly flicking over to meet Roxie's.

Yang's eyes followed hers, and she saw a quick flash of something on Roxie's face that made her feel like the girl was laughing at her.

"Where are you getting it Sasha?" repeated Yang, her tone growing increasingly impatient.

Sasha sighed, shaking her head.

"Fine, little Yang – you broke me," she said in mock-defeat. Her tawny eyes locked onto Yang's, looking almost playful.

Yang had seen this look on Sasha before – and she knew it was a warning sign that something else was going on.

"Honestly, I'm not _getting_ it from anywhere. At least, not anymore. I've just been handing out a few gifts here and there – things I'd saved for a rainy day. Lately my access has… dried up."

"Why now? Why're you passing that stuff around now?" asked Yang, confused.

Sasha made a scoffing sound in her throat and laid a hand on Yang's shoulder.

"Seriously little Yang, haven't you figured it out yet? Loyalty is a commodity in here – it's not something you get for free. You need capital – something to make sure girls keep coming back rather than venturing off somewhere else, looking for another source to help them pass the time in this shithole," she said, as if instructing a schoolgirl.

At Sasha's touch Yang's upper lip involuntarily curled up into a small snarl. Jerking back, she shook Sasha's hand off her shoulder.

"There's a problem with your plan, Sasha. Pretty soon, your little 'rainy day' fund is gonna dry up – and then you'll have nothing. Your system won't work."

"That's where you're wrong," said Roxie, her voice slithering up from behind Yang. Yang nearly jumped – she'd half forgotten that Roxie was even still there.

Yang cast an uncertain glance over her shoulder at the small girl.

"What the hell is she talking about?" asked Yang, directing the question at Sasha.

Irritation momentarily flashed across Sasha's features as she ignored Yang, her eyes focused on Roxie's. But then that somewhat seductive look spread back over her face, her lips curling up into a grin.

"You know, little Yang, it's funny you should ask – that you should be here talking to me at all. Not your usual style, but as it turns out, there's something I've been meaning to ask you to do for me."

"And why in the world would I want to do that?"

"We've had this talk before," said Sasha, a little bit of the sickly sweetness evaporating from her tone. "To keep your friends safe, to repay the debt you owe me for saving your ass… do I really need to explain myself again?"

Yang glared at her silently, her jaw set defiantly. When she didn't give an answer, Sasha continued.

"Didn't think so. Let's put it this way: The work crews are moving too slow. Part of it's the Vertés – they don't exactly keep their girls on task. But another part of it is that they simply don't have the numbers, so they're bringing in more girls. _Humans_ included – this order is coming from the top, so the Vertés' pet guards can't turn down inmates just because they're not a Faunus aligned with Judith or Leonie."

"What's your point Sasha?" demanded Yang, losing patience.

"Your whole time in here you've played nice with all the little animals running around in the Birdcage. Leonie respects you – at least, for a human. I've seen it. And what's more – she doesn't see you as much of a threat. Not with _that_ ," said Sasha, pointing at Yang's ruined arm.

Unconsciously, Yang pulled her arm back, half-hiding it behind herself.

Sasha's grin widened.

"So all I need you to do is cozy up to one of the guards and request a new work assignment – ask to be moved onto one of the work crews."

Yang frowned; there was a nagging thought that just wouldn't leave her alone.

"But how does that help you?" she asked.

Suddenly Yang became very aware of Roxie's presence behind her. She could practically feel the girl's breath on the back of her neck. But she didn't want to show that she was bothered or nervous, so she kept her eyes dead ahead.

"You'll be closer to the source – you'll have an in to the channel they're using to bring stuff into the prison. You may even be able to get something from a guard directly – but I doubt it. At the very least, you can keep an eye on Leonie and her sister for me, and you should be able to get them to bring something in for you if you play your cards right. _That_ 's how it helps me. Because when the time comes, I will be asking you to get something for me."

A sinking feeling dropped through Yang's stomach.

_I'm in over my head here. After everything I've heard about what these girls to get in good with the guards…_

Yang shook her head.

"What if I can't get what you want?" she asked.

Sasha's face darkened, something about her grin becoming malicious.

"You'll find a way, Xiao Long. Either that – or you'll watch one of your friends suffer the consequences."

Yang couldn't suppress the shudder that shot up her back from the base of her spine.

"What will you need me to get?" she asked, her tone reluctant.

Sasha straightened up, her hands on her hips.

"You'll find out when the time comes. But for now, I've got a little extra incentive for you."

Sasha nodded to Roxie, who came around Yang's right side – her weak one – and passed something to Sasha. It was a small, oddly shaped package wrapped in an off-white cloth.

Sasha picked apart the folds, uncovering it from the top. Yang stared at the object uncomprehendingly for a moment before she realized what it was.

_Where did she get that?!_

Seeing the stunned look on Yang's face, Sasha chuckled.

"Raven hasn't been too happy with me lately. Seems that Adrienne bitch blabbed about the little lesson I taught you when you first arrived. But just because she's ignored all _my_ requests lately," said Sasha, her voice resentful, "it doesn't mean mommy won't send her special little girl something to make sure she goes along with the plan."

"So this is her plan…" mumbled Yang as she stared at the gift in Sasha's hand.

Sitting on the cloth was a retainer with two curved ends that would slip around the molars in the back of someone's mouth. The rest of the bar would be hidden behind their teeth. But attached to the front of the wire were two sharp canines – like fangs. The left tooth even had a stud set into it – it almost looked like a real diamond, and for all Yang knew it very well could have been.

 _She knows about Cadeja…_ thought Yang.

The gift worried her as much as it excited her. This might be just the thing she needed to turn Cadeja's temper around, and get her to stop picking fights with the Vertés.

_If she could just feel like her old self again, maybe she'd be less angry… but, what will it cost me?_

Yang's hand reached out toward the parcel, but Sasha quickly covered it and stowed it in her pocket.

"Uh-uhhh little Yang, not just yet. Just because Raven sent it for you doesn't mean I have to hand it over. You'll have to earn this little gift."

Yang's heart sank a little more. She'd known this would come with a price, but every second she spent talking to Sasha, the more she dreaded what would come next.

"How did you even get that?" asked Yang, still a little stunned.

Sasha's eyes glowered.

"I had to use up one of the last favors I had in here to make sure it came through the damn mail," she said, looking down at Yang. "I bet if Raven could've gotten a whole arm in here for you, she would have. But unfortunately for you, something like that would… _stick out_."

Yang barely even heard the last thing Sasha said. There was a war going on inside of her mind – she kept debating back and forth what was worse: the fear of getting close to the guards, how out of control Cadeja had been lately, or how much farther she was sinking into debt with Sasha.

After a moment, Sasha broke the silence.

"So," she said, her tone assuming that light, almost playful note again, "all I need you to do right now is talk to one of the COs. Reilly's probably your best shot. There's just one catch."

 _What_ now _?_ thought Yang, not realizing that this situation could get any worse.

"What's that?" she asked warily.

"You have to distance yourself from your little wolf bitch, at least for now."

"What?!" shouted Yang, her voice loud enough to attract the attention of a few girls standing about fifty feet away. "Why the hell would you show me a gift for Cadeja just to tell me to stay away from her?"

Sasha eyed them before continuing.

"Your friend hasn't been playing nice with Judith lately. And that's a problem. We can't have Judith questioning your allegiance on the work crews – so you need to put some distance between you and her. If you don't, all of this will be for nothing."

"How do you expect me to do that?" hissed Yang. "She's my _cellmate_ , we live together! And she's my friend – quite possibly the only one I have in here. What the hell do you think I'm gonna do?"

"For starters, stop clinging to her like she's your mommy," spat Sasha. "You hang off that dog like you're holding on for dear life. Take some steps, Xiao Long. Start by sitting with us at lunch, instead of all cozied up with your friend by yourselves. You think people don't notice stuff like that? Because they do."

"You seriously can't expect me-"

Sasha's voice snapped, cutting off Yang's protest.

"I _can_ and I _do_ , little Yang," she snarled. "Think of your choices this way: do what I say, and everything'll be just fine and dandy for you and your friends." Sasha's eyes were practically on fire, her anger fueled by something more – almost like fear. "But don't do what I say, and those closest to you will feel it. _Trust me_. Starting with Raya," she said, rolling the 'r' in an imitation of Cadeja and Raya's accent.

Yang's features blanched; she was shaken by the venom in Sasha's words. For a moment, nobody spoke – the three girls just stood in a tight circle, drawing even more attention from the girls around them.

But eventually a guard's voice cut through the air.

"Ladies! Move along or learn to play nice!" he barked, taking a threatening step towards them. He hadn't missed the tension that crackled between the three of them. Not even a blind man would miss that.

Sasha smiled sweetly.

"Yes, CO," she said, turning to leave. Just as she was about to walk away, she cast one last meaningful look back at Yang before disappearing across the field.

Yang watched her go, conscious of Roxie's presence beside her. Still feeling threatened, Yang felt the hair on her neck and arm stick up, and she started to inch away from the smaller blonde.

"She's worried, you know," said Roxie, her tone perfectly even.

Yang stopped in her tracks.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sasha. She's worried. And for a good reason."

Yang hesitated to agree with her, but felt that what the girl said was right. Stubbornly, she opted to remain silent.

After a moment, Roxie whispered something that Yang almost couldn't hear.

"She's seen the harbinger… before the monitors came back, she saw it coming."

_What the…_

Yang stared down at the girl, turning to leave her again.

"She's right you know. About your friend. You need to stay away from her. That one's going to self-implode."

Yang didn't stop walking away this time. She simply replied, not bothering to look back.

"She's fine. Cadeja doesn't need to be drawn into this."

After a moment, even though Yang was some twenty feet away at this point, Roxie's voice called after her.

"Don't believe me? You'll see."

Irritated, Yang snapped her head around to tell Roxie off, but by the time she turned to look for her the stoic little girl was gone – disappeared somewhere in the Yard.

Still angry, Yang stomped away grumbling to herself.

"Doesn't know what the hell she's talking about. What does that even me? Probably just blowing smoke…"

But something creeped up inside of Yang, a small tendril of self-doubt. Something about what Sasha and Roxie had said about Cadeja had struck a chord.

All through the rest of her rec time, Yang found herself pacing around the Yard, going back and forth over their conversation in her mind. All she managed to do was grow more agitated over time – so that when it was time to head back to B Block, she was practically fuming. The other inmates left a wide ring of space around her, her frustration rolling off of her in waves.

She'd practically marched back to B Block, elbowing her way to the front of the group. By the time they got back to the cells, she was at the front of the line – behind only a couple COs.

Buzzed past the final gate, Yang blindly stomped her way up to her cell. She heard voices babbling through B Block, presumably because the girls who'd been at their work duties had already returned.

But something sounded off about the conversation that grew louder as Yang approached her cell. Her ears perking up, she couldn't help but remember Roxie's last words.

_Don't believe me? You'll see._

Coming up on the door to her cell, Yang couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled in her stomach.

And turning through the opening in the bars, Yang realized why. Unable to stop herself, she gasped.

"Cadeja?"

* * *

Author's note: Hey guys! As of this post these chapters are officially live! AO3's posts of  _Behind Bars_ are now 100% caught up to what I've published on fanfiction so from now on when I post a new chapter there I'll be adding it here as well.

As always, please feel free to reach out and let me know what you think!


	19. Things Fall Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang comes back to the cell to find out that something is horribly wrong with Cadeja - but that doesn't change the fact that she's under Sasha and Raven's thumb. Will she be able to push her friend away and work her way onto the reconstruction crews?

Behind Bars, _Volume Two_

Part Seven: Things Fall Apart

* * *

_Where you see an * a translation will be provided at the bottom of the page_

* * *

"Cadeja!" said Yang again, this time her voice louder.

At the sound of Yang's voice, Cadeja's eyes flicked up to meet Yang's, numbly acknowledging her entrance into the cell. But then her eyes slid slowly back down to the floor, resuming their blind gaze. Her mouth puckered into a frown, a mixture of pain and thinly veiled anger on her face.

Vaguely, Yang registered the presence of several people in her cell. Besides Cadeja, Doc, Adrienne, and CO Quinn all stood crammed into the small, square space.

But for the most part, Yang's eyes stayed glued to her friend's face.

Cadeja's normally smooth, olive-toned skin was covered in bruises and raised, angry red welts. Absentmindedly, Cadeja rubbed one of her wrists – where Yang saw reddish-purple marks that looked like fingers wrapped around her arm. There was even something below the corner of Cadeja's jaw on her neck that looked like a cigarette burn.

An image of a carton of Pincoyas flashed in Yang's mind, and she immediately knew who had done this to Cadeja.

"What the hell happened?" asked Yang. She looked directly at Cadeja, ignoring the other women in the cell.

CO Quinn grunted, shaking her head.

"She ' _fell_ ,' said the Faunus guard, her tone thick with sarcasm. "Ain't that right, Álvarez?"

"CO Quinn," quipped Adrienne. "That's not helping."

Meanwhile, Cadeja maintained her silence. Only a brief flash of irritation while Quinn was speaking betrayed that she was listening.

Yang glanced around the room, quickly studying the prison's personnel who were present. Doc stood the closest to Cadeja, hovering over her mattress on the floor. She looked down at the Faunus with a concerned look on her face, but her hands were tucked uselessly into the pockets of her long white coat.

CO Quinn stood just inside the cell door, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked frustrated and to Yang it seemed like she wanted to throw her hands up and leave.

Adrienne sat on the edge of Laurel's bunk, one leg crossed over the other. Her eyes watched the whole room – carefully observing both Yang and Cadeja. As usual, Yang didn't know what to make of her – friend, or foe.

"Cadeja?" asked Yang again, a note of something verging on fear sneaking into her tone.

Cadeja's hands stopped fidgeting and her ears flattened to her head like they often did when she was angry. Her top lip curled up, almost as if she was fighting the urge to snarl. Uncrossing her legs, she laid down on the mattress and rolled over, turning her back to Yang and facing the wall.

"I think we've done just about all we can here," said Doc. Her voice – usually bright and commanding – sounded a little defeated.

"Well no shit," muttered CO Quinn under her breath. The short spikes that ran all the way down her back bristled slightly as she shoved herself away from the wall.

Doc shook her head, casting one glance back down at Cadeja, who still stared resolute and silent at the wall. Sighing, she followed CO Quinn out of the cell.

Adrienne stayed perched on the bottom bunk for another moment, but after a few seconds she wordlessly got up and followed the other two women out of the cell, brushing past Yang's shoulder as she went.

When she was gone, Yang hesitated for a moment, not sure of what to do. She'd seen Cadeja look somewhat broken before – Yang wasn't sure how long it would take to forget Cadeja's face after they'd pulled her fangs in the SHU, if ever – but this was different.

Her usually sarcastic, strong, vibrant friend was gone. Laying on the mattress was someone else – someone that looked like a cornered animal.

Still dithering, Yang lowered herself into a sitting position on the edge of Cadeja's mattress. She reached her hand out to touch Cadeja's leg but then she stopped herself, figuring it wouldn't be received well.

Even after Yang sat down beside her, Cadeja didn't move or speak. She simply stared straight ahead, the muscles in her neck and jaw tense. Every once in a while she'd flinch, pain flashing across her face.

But after a minute passed, Yang felt the pressure of time. The rest of B Block would be back soon – including Darrah and Laurel. Their privacy had a clock on it.

"What happened?" she finally asked, her voice low.

One of Cadeja's shaggy white ears flicked up, the black tufted tip twitching at the sound of Yang's voice.

The volume of voices in B Block rose as more girls arrived back in the cellblock, and so Yang tried again.

"Cadeja – what happened?"

The wolf Faunus gritted her teeth.

"You 'member that time you showed up in the cell right after Sasha and that little blonde twink beat the shit outta your ass?" she said.

"…Yeah?"

"Then do me a favor and do what I did back then – don't ask me any more questions. Comprendes, tonta?"

"Cadeja…" said Yang, her voice unsure.

"Eh! Cállate, cabrona! Déjame en paz," shouted Cadeja, pushing herself up onto one elbow.

She tossed her hair, stopping for a moment to get control of her voice before continuing.

"Escúchame: Don't. Ask. Questions. Not right now. Okay?"

She paused, her sharp green eyes holding Yang's gaze.

"If anyone asks, I fell in the shower. You got that, ave rota?" she said, her tone commanding.

Yang nodded, but couldn't stop herself from saying something back.

"Nobody's gonna believe that, you know."

Cadeja glared at her for another second before dropping herself back down on the mattress and going back to staring at the wall.

"Anyone with a brain around here is gonna know it was Judith," said Yang.

"Luckily there ain't too many people around here like that. This ain't your fancy school, Xiao Long, it's a fuckin' prison. Not exactly a meeting of the minds."

"That's not funny, Cadeja," said Yang, just above a whisper.

Cadeja sighed, shaking her head.

Still not looking at Yang, she said, "I know it's not, ave rota."

Cadeja's hair hid most of her face, but it parted over her shoulder so that Yang could see the burn on her neck again. Looking at it, something occurred to Yang.

"It's because of the monitors, isn't it?"

Cadeja stiffened but didn't respond.

"They knew you'd be handicapped – you wouldn't be able to really fight back without electrocuting the hell out of yourself. So what – they ganged up on you? Won with numbers?"

Still no answer.

"Yup, that's what I thought," said Yang, more to herself than to Cadeja.

_They took advantage of the timing. Judith's been getting angrier for a while – probably ever since Cadeja got in Leonie's face about Raya and the contraband. Leonie yells at Judith, and Judith – taking advantage of the restriction on aura – takes it out on Cadeja._

_Damn,_ thought Yang, her hand tightening into a fist. _Church was right. Cadeja's anger led her here._

For the briefest of seconds, Yang found herself getting angry with her friend – she _knew_ picking a fight with the Vertés was dumb. Beyond dumb even. It was reckless and stupid and careless and _dangerous_.

But then Yang saw the bruises again, and the look on Cadeja's face – sure, there was anger and pain but there was also something like sadness and regret, maybe even fear – and her own frustration was gone.

Yang reached out again, this time letting her hand rest on Cadeja's calf. Cadeja didn't acknowledge the contact but she didn't pull away or rebuke Yang. For a moment, they just sat there wordlessly.

But then a voice floated through the cell from over Yang's shoulder, breaking the silence.

"You look like shit," said Darrah, announcing her arrival.

Cadeja growled, the sound rumbling deep in her throat, but Darrah simply rolled her eyes and picked her way around Yang and Cadeja's mattresses on the floor and hauled herself up onto the top bunk of her and Laurel's bed. In her wake, Laurel shuffled soundlessly into the cell.

Yang caught the quiet girl's eye for a moment, but like a skittish rabbit Laurel looked away and fled into the farthest corner of her bed, hiding in the half-shadows cast by Darrah's bunk above her.

However, Yang noticed Laurel's eyes steal over to stare at Cadeja every few seconds.

Realizing that any chance she had of really talking to Cadeja had vanished now that the other two girls had returned, Yang's shoulders slumped – as if all the energy had gone out of her. Sliding her hand off of Cadeja's leg, she crawled over to her own mattress and laid down to stare at the ceiling.

For a while, Yang tried to clear her mind and shove down all the words she wanted to say to Cadeja. To yell at her and cry and stamp her feet like a child.

_How could she be so stupid?! How could she let herself pick a fight with one of the most powerful women in here?_

_How could she?_

Yang took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and focusing on a speck of what she assumed was mold on the ceiling.

And for a few seconds she would be calm. But then she'd start to get mad or irritated again, feeling like the only way to really calm down would be to roll over and shout at her friend until she admitted that she was wrong and Yang was right and that she'd never do anything like this ever again.

Yang closed her eyes, feeling like her skin was buzzing. She focused on little sounds in the room: the rise and fall of somebody's breathing – probably Cadeja's. The occasional _ssshnick_ as Darrah flipped a page in whatever book she was reading.

Over and over again, she counted to ten in her head, still trying to focus on her breathing. She noticed her fingers were wrapped into a tight fist, and she forced the muscles in her hand to relax.

After a few minutes, Yang had managed to at least set aside the urge to sit up and scream at her friend. But then a new thought occurred to her, sinking in her gut like a cold stone.

All the breath whooshed out of her and her eyes snapped open. For a moment she didn't move or breathe or think in coherent words – she was just frozen on her dirty gray mattress on the dirty gray floor of the dirty gray Birdcage.

Cadeja was hurt. She was probably hurt bad – worse than what Yang could see on her wrists and face and neck.

And she was scared. So scared that she was angry at Yang – Yang, who'd had nothing to do with her getting attacked.

And up next for them – for all the inmates of D Block – was dinner.

In the cafe.

Where there'd be humans and Faunus and guards – both on the take and not.

Where there'd be Judith. And Leonie. And Sasha. And Roxie.

And _Sasha_.

And Yang would have to turn her back on Cadeja. She'd have to turn her back on her, because Sasha would be watching – making sure that Yang created "distance" between herself and Cadeja, all to ensure that Sasha and Raven's stupid little plan worked.

_Oh fuck._

* * *

When dinnertime had rolled around, and the guards had opened up the cells, the former inmates of D Block lined up to head to the cafeteria.

Almost reluctantly, Cadeja picked herself up off of the mattress – one limb at a time. Yang watched her carefully. She was holding her ribs and her breaths were shallow. There was definitely something wrong – some big bruises, no doubt, hiding under the khaki shirt of her prison uniform.

Her steps were slow, measured. Yang stayed behind her, still watching. There was a hitch in her walk, a hesitation – a slight leaning. She was favoring her left side. Cadeja's first few steps were the most ginger, and then she seemed to at least settle into some sort of rhythm – slow, forced, unwilling, but a rhythm nonetheless.

As they made their way to the cafe, several of the girls in line behind them grew irritated with Cadeja's slow pace, holding them up and keeping them from getting their dinner. They pushed and shoved, shoulders and elbows slamming into Yang as they forced their way past.

But Yang silently took the hits, blocking them from Cadeja. The wolf Faunus remained untouched, and even though she didn't say a word, Yang knew that Cadeja knew what she was doing: she was protecting her.

She was being a good friend.

For now.

Yang ran threw a million different things to say in her mind: how to explain in a few quick, whispered words that she didn't have a choice. That she didn't want to turn her back on Cadeja. That this wasn't because of Judith's attack. That she wasn't mad or upset or scared.

Well, maybe she was scared.

She was definitely scared.

This was Sasha. And _Raven_.

At least Sasha was somebody Yang knew – she was somebody Yang had seen: she knew how Sasha operated, she knew what lengths she'd go to, and she knew what means she'd used to get there.

But Raven.

She didn't know Raven.

It didn't matter that Raven was her mother. It didn't matter that maybe this one time in a train car she'd saved Yang's life.

 _Maybe_.

It didn't matter that she'd managed to wrangle a few snippets of stories out of her father and her uncle.

It didn't matter that every time she closed her eyes to go to sleep, she saw this _face_. This face that looked so much like her own.

None of it mattered. Raven was an unknown quantity. Something that couldn't be trusted.

Something that should be feared.

But none of that would matter to Cadeja. At least not right now, not today.

All she was going to see was this one person – maybe this one and only _friend_ she'd managed to make in here, not a relative or someone from her life before, but a perfect stranger who'd managed to look into the long black shithole that was Briarcliff and stand by her side and say, Hey. I think we can do this. Together.

She was going to see _that_ person turn her back and walk away from her, on a day when she was already laid low and broken. With bruises on her face, a hitch in her step, and a burn on her neck.

So what the hell could Yang say that would make it better? Or at least make it seem like it all sucked less?

By the time they found themselves standing in line, trays in hand, Yang hadn't come up with a single thing to say.

The line crawled forward as girl after girl held out her tray, waiting for whatever it was they were serving to be slopped into a bowl or onto a plate. Some snatched up a jello or the least moldy looking piece of bread. Yang watched the girl in front of her sneak not one but _two_ yogurts, tucking the second one into her bra in an unconvincing attempt to hide it.

But Yang didn't care. She barely noticed as a hair-netted woman plopped something that looked like chicken noodle soup into a plastic pink bowl on her tray. She was running out of time.

Pretty soon, they were at the end of the line, about to slide their trays off the metal counter. Yang knew Cadeja would turn and head straight for their usual table, like she always did. It didn't matter that she was mad. It didn't matter that they were barely speaking. She'd go and she'd expect Yang to be right behind her.

But she wouldn't be.

Steeling herself, Yang leaned forward and whispered in Cadeja's ear.

"I need to tell you something."

Cadeja glared down at her, clearly not noticing how serious and urgent Yang's tone was. Rolling her eyes, she started to walk away. But dropping her tray back onto the metal counter, Yang reached out and grabbed Cadeja's arm.

Cadeja turned on her like she'd been stung – something feral glinting in her eyes for a moment before she regained her careless "fuck you" mask.

"No listen to me," hissed Yang. "Please," she added, trying to get Cadeja to understand.

A girl behind Yang in line grunted, shoving her way past to the tables beyond the end of the queue. Feeling in the way, Yang shuffled forward, still holding Cadeja's arm.

"We've only got a minute," said Yang, her eyes roving through the sea of faces already seated in the cafe, looking for Sasha or any of her crew.

Something inside of Cadeja clicked and her eyebrows kneaded together, concerned.

"You're serious aren't you?" she asked.

Yang ignored the question.

"Something happened in the Yard with Sasha. I can't go into all the details – just know it has more shit to do with my mom," said Yang, her voice coming out in a desperately babbling rapid fire of syllables.

Cadeja opened her mouth, about to interject but Yang cut her off and kept going.

"Sasha wants me to get on the work crews – they're taking on more girls, humans included. She wants me to get close to the contraband channels and keep an eye on the Vertés."

"Are you insane?!" screeched Cadeja.

"Shh! Keep it down," chided Yang, looking around to see if anyone had overheard. "Look, I know it's stupid-"

"You're damn right it's stupid-"

"We don't have time for that!" hissed Yang. "Just – just listen, okay? I can't be seen with you. Not after this. I can't sit with you without Judith thinking I'm taking your side over theirs. And if I ignore Sasha…" said Yang, her voice trailing off. The consequences were obvious enough – Cadeja would figure it out.

Belatedly Yang realized that she hadn't looked Cadeja in the eye the whole time she'd been explaining the situation. Forcing herself to look up, she saw what she'd been expecting: Cadeja's eyes betrayed how hurt she was. Yang was abandoning her to play prison politics with a bunch of crazy, power-mad bitches in green jumpsuits.

"Cadeja-"

"No, Xiao Long. I get it. You gotta do this," said Cadeja, her tone flat.

Yang was stunned.

"I – I don't-"

"But I don't gotta like it," said Cadeja, stone-faced. Something sad crept into her eyes, and she almost looked _disappointed_.

Her words hit Yang like a slap in the face. Slowly, her hand fell from Cadeja's arm.

"I get that you're doin' what you think you gotta do, ave rota. I get that you probably think you're even protectin' me or Raya – gods know I get that," she said, pausing. "But you're only gonna get yourself – and the rest of us – hurt. You'll see, Xiao Long. You'll see."

With that she started to walk away, heading for their usual table and leaving Yang standing behind her, frozen.

But something snapped inside of Yang.

"You don't get it, do you? I don't have a choice!" she said, perhaps a little too loud.

"Of course you have a choice!" snapped Cadeja, still walking away.

"No I don't! Don't you see?" shouted Yang.

Cadeja stopped, and turned her chin to look at Yang in profile.

"Es la caza, y la cazadora. Es el juego y la niña que no sabe el engaño. Tú lo verás, algún día, ave rota. Tengo razón, y si no prestas atención a mi advertencia, serás la cazada."*

Yang struggled to understand – it had been weeks since they'd practiced the language together consistently – and before she could even start to formulate a response, Cadeja was gone, disappearing through the crowded room.

Yang stared after her for a moment until she lost sight of her wild, white mess of hair. Thawing out, Yang turned and with one look at her tray she decided to leave it.

Walking away, she saw where Sasha and her crew usually sat, but she couldn't bring herself to sit with them. Picking her way through the metal tables bolted to the floor, she walked over to and empty one and sat down, alone.

No one bothered her or came to sit with her, she just sat there – feeling hollow and waiting for dinner to be over. At one point she did catch Sasha peering over at her gleefully, but Yang turned her back and leaned her head down on her arm, splayed across the table. Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited out the rest of their meal time in silence.

Every few minutes she'd catch herself nurturing the hope that they'd get back to the cell and everything would be fine – Cadeja would let her explain and see her side and let her back in – but then she squashed those thoughts back down, knowing better than to think like that.

And she was right. When the COs finally called them and marshalled them back to B Block, there was silence. In the cafe, in the halls, in the cell – neither one of them so much as looked at the other.

There would be no more words tonight. Something had broken between them – some sort of trust that Yang hadn't even realized she'd lose by following Sasha's orders. She'd expected anger and shouting and scolding – but Cadeja was silent.

She ignored Yang and Darrah and Laurel – she was in her own world. Totally removed. Unreachable.

And when Yang went to bed that night – in a cell crowded with too many bodies, in a building bursting with too many inmates, on a mountainside crawling with who knows what – she was more alone than she had been since her first night in the Birdcage.

* * *

Two days later and still nothing had changed.

 _Well_ , thought Yang, her mind meandering in downward spirals. _That's not quite right. Things have changed._

_They've gotten worse._

The dynamic in Briarcliff had shifted. Judith and Leonie had split – that rift clearly was not going to be mended anytime soon. And every day things got a little more tense as they fought for a majority amongst the work crews.

Especially with new recruits being signed on every day, each new girl was swallowed up by one or the other. It was a numbers game: whoever had the greatest influence would win out in the end, and take over the channels running contraband into the prison.

Leonie had de facto adopted Cadeja. She now sat with them at lunch. Her and Yang's old table was abandoned – nobody sat there.

Judith was fuming, but trying not to show it. But Yang watched her, and she caught her staring daggers at Leonie, Cadeja, Sasha, or anyone unfortunate enough to get too close when she was in a bad mood.

But it was clear to see: somehow, Judith was winning. She'd secured the work crews in the Yard and in what was left of D Block. Leonie still held on to the reconstruction crews in A Block, but Yang wasn't sure how long that would last.

But pretty soon, Yang would get her chance to take a closer look and find out for herself – whether she liked it or not.

One day when Yang was sitting in the cafeteria, alone – her new norm – Sasha had approached her, the devil coming to collect her due.

It was time, she'd said. Time to take the next step. Yang had started to put some distance between herself and the "mutt," as Sasha put it. Now she had to ask to get her work assignment changed.

And she'd have to ask one of the senior guards who was cleared to work in the reconstruction areas. Someone she knew, someone who maybe knew her.

Sasha had said that with a wink. For some reason, Yang's stomach had flipped and her throat had tightened, her hand wrapping around her stupid hard plastic cup like she could crush it with just the strength of her fingers.

It was decided. Today was the day. She'd approach CO Reilly before the end of lunch and ask to get on the work crews.

Yang was sitting at a table near the front of the cafe, close to the kitchens. Her tray of food was untouched. After a half hour of just sitting there, her P.B. and J. sandwich was soggy, collapsing in on itself in the middle.

Thinking about what was happening to her – what she had to _do_ – Yang just felt numb. Like she was floating – sitting in this stew of apathy, unwilling to move or speak or think.

But she had to get up.

She had to.

And so she did.

She left her tray on the table. She didn't care. One of the girls from the kitchens could get it. She'd be pissed, but so what?

Rather than wind her way through the tables, Yang cut across to the wall and followed it back towards the entrance to the cafe. Ahead of her, four guards stood in the doorway, vaguely watching the inmates around them.

CO Reilly was there – farther away from the other three. She'd watched him from across the room, waiting for him to step away before making her move.

He was slumped against the wall, hiding one hand between it and his leg. He must've had a flask or a cigarette or something hidden there – and as Yang got close she figured it was the former because she didn't smell smoke.

She remembered the first time she'd met him. The first time he'd escorted her through the halls of the Birdcage – his clammy hand wrapped around her skin.

His hair was greasy and his skin was pale. His eyes were a little red, rimmed by dark bags sunken into his cheeks. Leaning against the wall, he slouched like some tired beast – weary and bored.

But Yang was cutting a beeline through the room towards him, and when he noticed he stood up to attention.

"CO Reilly?" she asked, her voice was weak and sounded like a little girl. Yang was mad at herself for being nervous, but there wasn't anything she could really do about it. She didn't trust him – and for good reason.

For a moment he didn't respond, sizing her up with his eyes.

"Inmate?" he finally said, lazily.

Yang's cheeks flushed – and not just because she was embarrassed.

 _What the hell am I supposed to do?_ she screamed internally.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, and above everything – she was _mad_. She was furious – absolutely pissed that _this_ was her life now. Following her mother's orders for who knows why. Wading through the mire of bullshit in this prison with these people, betraying the one and only real friend she'd made.

Reilly cleared his throat, getting tired of waiting for a response. Yang notice him tuck something into his pocket – presumably the flask or whatever it was he'd been drinking from.

Yang ground her teeth together, steeling herself and trying to get her tone back under control.

"I was wondering," she said, hoping she sounded more playful and naïve than she did. "I'd heard about the request for more girls to help out on the work crews, and I knew you'd been working with them…"

Her voice trailed off and her eyes were trained on the floor. Forcing herself to look up, she peeked up through her bangs and flashed him a hesitant smile.

But what she saw unsettled her. He was grinning at her – a full on, teeth-showing grin. The mottled skin of his cheeks flushed red and a vein popped out in his throat.

"Are you serious?" he said, finally losing his fight not to laugh. Holding his stomach with one hand, he practically bent over sniggering.

Yang was taken aback, and for a moment she stood there frozen – just watching him laugh himself to the verge of tears.

"C…O…?" she mumbled, still stunned.

After a moment he collected himself, straightening back up and looking her in the eye.

"Hot damn, you are serious aren't you?"

Yang saw a clear picture in her mind of her ramming a fist into his big fat mouth, but she swallowed her anger and managed to remain silent. However, she couldn't help but glare at him, her lilac eyes hardening in the harsh light of the fluorescents.

Reilly looked down at her with something like pity in his eyes, but still he smiled. Pointing at her arm, he said, "What the hell kind of good are you gonna be doing hard labor with _that_?"

Internally, Yang winced but she didn't let it show on her face.

 _Yup. That's it. I tried. Too bad. Sasha and Raven will just have to live with it_ , she thought, ready to give up.

But she didn't give up. She took a deep breath, and got ready to start again. She couldn't turn back now. Sasha had anticipated this. And besides, she wouldn't let Yang off that easy – she'd just end up having to try again any ways.

"CO…" she murmured, reaching out with her hand and trailing her finger down across his bare forearm. "I can be plenty useful, trust me."

She hoped she sounded convincing, but all Yang could hear was the roar of her blood in her ears. When she touched him, the taste of bile burned in her throat like acid, and it took everything she had to keep her hand from shaking.

"Oh yeah?" he said, his eyes reevaluating her.

Yang let her hand trail up, following the curve of his shoulder until it turned, and then she let her fingers stray across the front of his shirt. Her hand paused against his chest, and then meandered down over his stomach and then she finally broke the contact, taking a step back.

Reilly looked at her, uncertain.

"You remember me, don't you?" she asked, noticing that her voice was a little higher than usual. She wondered if she was laying it on a bit too thick.

"I've seen you," he grunted, not sure where she was going with this.

"And you saw me? In D Block? I survived the attack. And there were plenty of girls who didn't," Yang said, hating herself for playing games like this.

A dim light of understanding glinted in his eye.

"Yeah, so?" he prompted her.

"So I think I can take care of myself, don't you?" she said, her voice growing a little stronger. She straightened up to her full height, making use of the fact that she was only an inch or two shorter than him.

Unconsciously, Reilly took a half step back.

"I – I guess," he stammered, not sure how to counter her.

In that moment – when he backed away and showed his weakness, Yang knew she had won.

He was just a grunt – a brute – a bully hired to police girls in handcuffs. He didn't have the same dangerous air about him that Kowalski did. This man was different. He wasn't something to be _feared_ – he wasn't a _hunter_ , he was just an animal – following his desires.

The Vertés and their girls had promised him things. And he delivered for them, so long as he got what he wanted. He wasn't playing the game of prison politics like the rest of them were. He was just riding the wave – snapping up whatever goodies he could get.

"So," Yang said, the placating tone leaving her voice as she gave up the act and decided to take control. "You admit it then, I can hold my own."

Reilly dithered for a second – trying to think of something to say. But he came up empty.

And even though he wasn't as dangerous a man as Kowalski – even though he wasn't this slick, sly beast – he didn't like to be beaten, and he resented Yang for talking him in circles.

"I guess so, Xiao Long," he growled, using her name for the first time.

Yang couldn't entirely hide the wince that shuddered through her at hearing her name in his mouth.

Reilly noticed, and he grinned – thinking he'd somehow scored a point.

"I think I've got just the spot for you," he said, sounding triumphant – like he'd turned this around on her. Like instead of giving her what she'd asked for, he'd come up with this all on his own – like some great punishment.

"Yup," he said, still mulling it over, "it's just the right thing for you." His eyes roved over her, in no way hiding the fact that they strayed over her chest for just a moment too long.

When she didn't respond, a small flame of anger flashed in his eyes.

"Say _thank you_ , inmate," he purred, enjoying watching her squirm.

Yang wanted to punch him in the gut and walk away and pretend like this had never happened, but she bit down on her tongue and squeezed her hand into a tight fist.

Fighting with herself, she forced out the three little words that cut at her like knives.

"Thank you, CO."

"That's a girl," he said, grinning like a fool. "Now off you go." He shooed her away with a careless wave of his hand.

Yang suppressed a growl and she turned sharply on her heel, practically ready to storm across the cafe.

But after just a few steps, she was brought up short. Leering across the room, she made eye contact with CO Quinn – standing against the wall on the far side of the cafe.

Her sharp eyes bored into Yang and her arms were crossed tightly over her chest. She didn't move or speak or so much as blink but the way she looked at Yang – it was enough.

It was enough to say: _"I see you."_

She'd seen the whole thing – been watching them like a hawk.

CO Quinn was a newer guard. She wasn't quite like the other COs. As far as Yang could tell, she actually cared about her job, even if she didn't always like the administration she worked under. Clearly, she didn't like the Atlesian forces – her encounter with Winter was enough to demonstrate that.

But there was something about her – something that made her different.

And not just because she was a Faunus – surprisingly, she was one of only a handful of new guards that knew their ass from a pair of handcuffs. And she actually seemed to care – clearly she wasn't happy with Cadeja's decision to keep her mouth shut about Judith.

CO Quinn wasn't stupid, and she wasn't blind. And she most definitely was not a part of the contraband trade.

But she probably knew who was.

And just like that – Yang Xiao Long had made one more enemy in the Birdcage.

* * *

*Translation: It's the hunt, and the huntress. The game and the child who doesn't know the trick. You'll see it, some day, ave rota (broken bird). I'm right, and if you don't heed my warning, you will be the hunted.

Author's note: Sorry guys, I had to drive Yang and Cadeja apart for now – there will be a chance for them to make up later though! We'll just have to wait and see how things go.

Also, after what feels like a long time (for me at least) some high-action stuff will start to come back into the story next chapter. As always, hit me up with comments/suggestions/questions - I really appreciate the feedback!


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